A recent Federal Reserve report highlights a significant widening of the wealth gap between younger and older American families. The report shows that from 2022 to 2025, the median net worth of families headed by someone 75 or older increased by 37%, while those headed by someone under 35 saw a decline of 23%.
What happened
The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances attributes the decline in younger families’ net worth primarily to the loss of business-equity gains from 2019 to 2022. In contrast, older, affluent families saw their wealth increase due to rising asset values, particularly in retirement accounts. The report also notes that the wealthiest 10% of Americans own approximately 87% of the US stock market wealth.
The findings are consistent with financial concerns expressed by young Americans, with 43% of respondents in Harvard’s fall 2025 youth poll stating they were struggling or getting by with limited financial security. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that the Fed’s policies have deepened the wealth divide by boosting asset prices while inflation eroded purchasing power.
The Trump administration has introduced the Trump Accounts program, which allows eligible children under 18 to have investment accounts that grow tax-deferred, in an effort to give younger Americans an early foothold in the stock market.
