Why do young people earn 40% less than their senior colleagues? The gap increases - Corriere.it
The labor market offers less and less to young people especially in terms of wages. If thirty-year-olds in the 1980s earned about 20% less than their over-50 colleagues, today that distance has doubled with a wage gap between generations that reaches 40%. A study by Nicola Bianchi (Northwestern Kellogg School of Management) and Matteo Paradisi (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance) captures the odyssey of young workers grappling with an increasingly aging and exclusive job market. The survey ranks the different career opportunities between generations.
The wage gap and the top positions occupied
It is recorded that the widening of the wage gap by age is associated with a slowdown in the careers of younger workers, while those of older workers have improved. From 1985 to 2019, the Report notes, the probability that younger workers were in the top quartile of the wage distribution decreased by 34%, while the same probability, for older workers, increased by 16%. Furthermore, the likelihood of younger workers holding managerial positions decreased by two-thirds between 1985 and 2019, while it increased by 87% among older workers. In other words, it means that the space for the new generations is still occupied by the old ones. Among the causes of lack of career for young people in Italy, researchers cite a decrease in company productivity together with an increase in the retirement age. Older workers therefore, concludes the study, have extended their careers by occupying their top positions longer and preventing younger workers from reaching the best paid positions.
The age of the workforce
It is no coincidence that the average age of the workforce in Italy has risen from 35.8 years in 1985 to 42.7 years in 2019. This is a global phenomenon: the wage gap increased by 10% in favor of older workers in the US, by 11% in the UK (1997-2019) and by 17% in Denmark (1997-2019). But Germany also has a similar pay gap.
From workers to employees: the gap remains
These are differences that can also be found by looking at more recent data and which concern specific sectors. According to Odm Consulting, in Italy the average wages of baby boomers, Millennials and Generation Z show significant differences for the same category. A 30-year-old employee, for example, has a 34% lower payroll than a 60-year-old. Among blue-collar workers, however, a baby boomer pockets 15% more than an old-time blue-collar worker and 25% more than a Gen Z colleague.
