Millennials are getting more college degrees, but they aren’t getting as many jobs as their Gen X counterparts.
Today’s young adults are on track to becoming the most educated generation to date, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
More Millennial women, in particular, are securing their diplomas than their older sisters, mothers and grandmothers.
They also outnumber their male peers when it comes to getting college degrees.
But those degrees aren’t helping them get jobs. Thanks to the Great Recession, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers.
Millennial men were hit particularly hard. Not only do they trail Gen Xers in employment, but fewer are employed now than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (who are now mainly in their 70s and 80s) were at the same age.
Instead, Millennial men are more likely to be out of the labor force, either in school or not looking for a job.
Millennial women lost ground in terms of employment when compared to Gen Xers. But they are still more likely to work than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, when it was more common for women to stay home and raise children.