The possibility of saving money for the future is largely concentrated in the older population. In an economy where precariousness marks the beginning of the working career and property is concentrated in the oldest generations, a total generated in the country. On the contrary, almost seven out of every 10 euros, according to the report published this Wednesday on the Age Accounts of Household Members (CEMH), coordinated by Fedea, with the support of the Mapfre Foundation.
Between both extremes is the generation between 30 and 54 years old, the true economic support of the country. It is the group that generates (with more than 580,000 million euros) and that bears the highest tax burden (they pay more than 225,400 million in taxes and contributions). However, their room to save is constrained by the costs associated with parenting, housing and household maintenance. They are the ones who produce and contribute the most, but not the ones who accumulate the most.
The disproportion between generations is clearly seen when going down into the details of the figures. The total savings of Spanish households amounts to 108,174 million euros, but of that sum. At the other end of the pyramid, those over 55 accumulate 73,578 million, 68% of the total.
The gap becomes starker when looking at the individual average. A person under 30 years old saves, on average, 232 euros per year. It is an amount that barely covers an unforeseen domestic event. Compared to this, a person over 55 manages to accumulate 4,570 euros annually: 20 times more. It is not explained only because some have had more years to accumulate money, but because young people start from a much lower income base. If their salaries and the little they earn from interest or investments are added, their gross income barely reaches 4,550 euros per year per person.
According to the report, the system relies on family transfers. Young people are net recipients of more than 9,000 euros per person per year, mainly from their parents. Altogether, private transfers within households reach around 130 billion euros annually. This explains why youth consumption—11,400 euros of private spending per person—far exceeds what their own income would allow.
The exclusion of young people from capital income worsens the gap. Interest, dividends and rents have a residual weight at early ages and increase progressively over the years, reflecting the accumulation of assets and the receipt of inheritances. While a minority – the richest 0.1% – concentrates 43% of the country’s dividends, the majority of young people have not even accessed the property market. Not only do they allocate a substantial part of their income to rent, but they are left out of the so-called “imputed rent”: that invisible savings enjoyed by those who live in a house already paid for and which in the country as a whole is close to 100,000 million euros annually.
The study, although based on figures from 2022, provides an x-ray of this dynamic that has been little explored for methodological reasons. The (ECV), the usual tool for measuring inequality, does not adequately capture the wealthiest households due to its low sample weight. To overcome this limit, the authors of the report crossed the data with the Tax Agency’s Household Panel, which allows identifying those who declare more than 505,000 euros annually.
