Millennials Gain Share of Consumer Spending: Part 2

April 18, 2019  by Laurie Northington in General   

This is the second factoid in a series of four factoids, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2017 Consumer Expenditure Survey to show the shift over the last four years in consumer spending among the five adult generations as Millennials continue to gain a greater share.

Millennials have entered into adulthood and continued to form households – growing their share of consumer units. At 25.1 percent in 2017, Millennials percent of consumer units has jumped 2.2 points in just one year, while the older generations (including Generation X) decrease.

In 2017, U.S. households spent $7.8 trillion in the U.S. economy with Baby Boomers controlling 36.1 percent of all total consumer expenditures, followed by Generation X at 32.3 percent. While Millennials still control only 21.4 percent due to lower average household incomes and still smaller numbers, this generation increased its share of total spending by 3.9 percentage points 2014 to 2017 – up from 17.5 percent in 2014. On the flip side, both Generation X and Baby Boomers have decreased share as numbers rise for Millennials.

For furniture and bedding expenditures, Millennials continue to step up to spend more of their income on home furnishings than any other generation. While they still control only 24.6 percent of industry sales, the share has increased each year from 20.1 percent in 2014. Gen Xers have slipped in control down to 32.3 percent, most likely due to the smaller size of the generation, but remain close to Baby Boomers’ 34.3 percent. As Baby Boomers age out of the furniture industry, the influence of Gen Xers and Millennials will continue to grow in the years ahead. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2017