Consumer Expenditure Surveys CE PRINT:

A Generation Apart: Comparing the Economic Status of Young Singles in 1984-85 and

2004-05

A recent article using data from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) compares the spending patterns of young (21-to-29-year-old), single adults interviewed

in 2004-05 to those of young, single adults interviewed twenty years earlier in 1984-85 (Geoffrey Paulin, Monthly Labor Review, December 2008, "Expenditure

patterns of young single adults: two recent generations compared," pp. 19-50; on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/12/art2full.pdf). Below, the author

summarizes some of the key findings from the article.

The results show clear differences in some spending patterns and other characteristics for these two groups. However, the results also show some ways in which

these two groups are similar.

Ways in which young singles were better off in 2004-05 than in 1984-85

Young singles in the more recent period were more likely to:

have at least some college experience;

own their homes;

be sole occupants of their households (that is, not relying on roommates or living with family members in order to afford housing) than were their counterparts in the mid1980

Ways in which young singles were worse off in 2004-05 than in 1984-85

Young singles in the more recent period:

traveled less than those in the earlier period;

faced higher education costs. The inflation rate for college tuition and fees rose much faster than prices for all goods and services from January 1984 to December 2005.

Travel provides a particularly interesting example of how spending by young singles has changed over time. Total outlays for non-business travel by young singles

were down in 2004-05 compared with 1984-85, as was the percent of young singles reporting having these travel expenditures.

This decrease in percent reporting is consistent with patterns observed for other households. Some of the decline may be due to price increases for travel-related

items. Some may be attributable to new technologies that were not so widely available in 1984-85, such as e-mail, cell phones, and instant messaging that facilitate

communication.

Ways in which young singles were about the same in 2004-05 and in 1984-85

After adjusting for inflation, average total spending for young singles did not change in a statistically significant wa

Young singles in 2004-05 may be better off than young singles in 1994-95, as young singles in 1984-85 clearly were. That is, previous research found that young singles 

1994-95 were clearly worse off than young singles in 1984-85 (Geoffrey Paulin and Brian Riordon, Monthly Labor Review, February 1998, pp. 10

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1998/02/art2full.pdf), and the current work states that the fortunes of young singles may be improving after this period of decline. If so, you

singles in both 1984-85 and 2004-05 were better off than those in the mid-1990

Definitions

Young singles are defined here as persons ranging in age from 21 to 29 years old who have never been married and who constitute their own consumer units (see

also www.bls.gov/cex/csxfaqs.htm#definitions). In addition, outlays are analyzed to describe spending patterns and economic status because the income data are

not directly comparable over time due to methodological changes in data processing starting with the publication of the 2004 CE data, and because outlays include

certain payments that are not included in the definition of expenditures. Other technical differences between outlays and expenditures are described in the article at

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/12/art2full.pdf.

Percent reporting expenditures for travel: 1984-2005

Year Young singles All other consumer units

1984 52.9 42.0

1985 52.4 42.1

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Year Young singles All other consumer units

1986 52.3 43.0

1987 51.6 43.3

1988 50.3 43.0

1989 48.0 41.9

1990 53.6 42.1

1991 48.3 40.1

1992 52.7 39.0

1993 50.9 41.2

1994 48.6 41.0

1995 48.2 40.1

1996 51.1 40.1

1997 53.4 40.0

1998 51.9 39.0

1999 47.0 35.9

2000 46.5 34.6

2001 46.0 33.1

2002 44.5 33.7

2003 44.9 31.7

2004 36.6 31.9

2005 34.2 32.5

Last Modified Date: April 6, 2018

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