New York’s young adults — the state’s Gen Z-ers and younger millennials — are facing a complex economic landscape including higher unemployment rates, increasing costs and larger debt burdens which threaten their financial well-being.
That’s according to a new report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, which found that the unemployment rate for these groups stood at 8.6% in 2023, more than double the statewide average. That was especially pronounced among Black and Hispanic young people for whom the rate was double that of their white counterparts.
The report found that some of these issues are leading to outmigration among young people that outpaces other states. According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, New York saw a 1.9% decline in this age group over the past decade while the national population of young adults grew 4.2%.
DiNapoli told Spectrum News 1 that the report is an important step in recognizing that the perception that things are particularly difficult for those age groups is indeed backed up by the data.
“The challenges we hear about, I think this report puts more definition and puts more specifics out to say, hey folks, there are some issues here we need to address,” he said.
The comptroller said high costs are bogging down these individuals who are in many cases working to lay the groundwork for careers or are in the early stages of them. The report found that the most significant expenses for young adults were housing, food and transportation, which made up more than two-thirds of their total expenditures in 2023.
To correct course and make New York more affordable for young adults, DiNapoli stressed that policymakers need to continue strengthening the employment pipeline.
“Support for more training programs, apprenticeships, as well as keeping opportunities for higher education, all of that becomes key,” he said.
Housing came in as the highest cost at 35%, and 35.9% face cost burdens in paying for housing.
DiNapoli urged Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to continue focusing on increasing the housing stock this upcoming legislative session and into the future.
“It needs to be a focused policy. I think everybody understands that and is talking about it but some of it is beyond our control, like what interest rates are,” he said.
DiNapoli said finding solutions to these problems is not only crucial for the young New Yorkers who are experiencing them — but crucial for the future of New York state.
“We don’t want our main export to be our younger New Yorkers. We want to keep them here,” he said. “We have a great higher education system and it’s always frustrating to hear when someone got a great education in New York from SUNY or CUNY or one of our private universities and they haven’t found a job opportunity here and because of an employment opportunity or costs, they end up going to another state.”
The report also found that young adults held nearly 30% of the nation’s total household debt in 2024.