Editorial: Young Americans need help

Forty-seven to one.

That's how the wealth of typical Americans older than 65 stacks up against the wealth of those younger than 35. It's the widest such disparity ever recorded. And it's just one more piece of evidence, as if any were needed, that America's economy isn't working for too many of its citizens.

The data, for 2009, are from a new report by the nonprofit Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends project, which found that the same wealth ratio was 10 to 1 back in 1984. That was already pretty lopsided, but the two age groups have since experienced a remarkable reversal of fortunes.

In the years since 1984, older Americans have seen their net worth grow by 42 percent, while that of younger Americans shrank 68 percent -- to a microscopic $3,662. Another truly scary fact: The proportion of households with no net worth at all nearly doubled from 1984 to 2009, to an astonishing 1 in 5.

The main reason for the growing divergence between young and old: While older people lost some home equity in the recent downturn, most bought their homes long ago. So their net worth reflects more of the real estate gains that predated the financial crisis and the housing collapse.

Younger Americans, by contrast, have been absolutely hammered by the Great Recession, losing 55 percent of their net worth from 2005 to 2009. Households headed by someone older than 65 lost just 6 percent.

Poverty? Those younger than 35 were nearly twice as likely to qualify as poor by the official measure in 2010 compared to 1967. That meant that last year 22 percent were poor. But among those 65 and older, 11 percent were in poverty, versus 33 percent in 1967. One reason is that the elderly have seen stronger income gains: 109 percent after inflation since 1967, versus just 27 percent for households headed by someone younger than 35.

Employment? Last year the jobless rate for the young (11.7 percent) was far higher than for the old (6.7 percent), although, of course, many of the elderly are retired.

In addition to home equity, the elderly benefit from a social safety net that is strongest during their stage of life. But let's not forget that Social Security and Medicare, both bulwarks against poverty for the aged, are paid for by today's workers, not those of yesteryear.

If younger Americans can't find a way to improve their lot -- or if society can't help them do so -- they may balk at bearing the growing burden of the elderly in addition to raising their own kids, paying off student loans and coping with the soaring cost of medical care.

Any attempts to solve our nation's fiscal woes with budget cuts and revenue hikes will have to do more for the young, if we want them to keep doing so much for the old.