Where I think the rubber is really going to hit the road is in the next 20+ years with retirement folks. Most people in their 40's right now have almost zero savings, almost nothing in retirement, many won't own their own homes, and pensions are basically extinct. The average 401k balance of 45-55 year olds is about $150k, half of Americans have no retirement accounts at all, add to that the massive increase in health issues in both young and older people, and the quality of healthcare tanking because investment groups buying up the medical industry and stripping it for profits, and it's going to get ugly. Medical issues related to cancer and obesity are quickly impacting younger and younger Americans. Cancer rates are skyrocketing for people 30-45. Early onset cancer rates (cancer before the age of 50) is increasing at 1-2% every year.
Then you have all the kids coming out of school with large student debt, no affordable apartment options, and much higher "average" living expenses than most generations. Now a lot of those "living expenses" are personal choice. When I was growing up in the 80/90's almost no one had cell phones, no one was spending $50 a week at a coffee shop, and many appliances/goods/cars were retained (and lasted) much longer. Now the average family has a $200 cable bill, a $200 cell phone bill, streaming bills, xbox subscriptions, amazon and costco memberships, two car loans and they swap cars every 3-4 years, appliances last a handful of years if you are lucky, and they probably spend $100 a week at starbucks or more if they have a couple kids. $1000 phones for every family member every 2-3 years, and new $1000 iPads, $500 smart watches, neither of which anyone wants after 2-3 years. Many families I know with 3-4 drivers are spending almost $300-500 a month just on car insurance. The list goes on and on. A lot of that pain is created by the consumer that over leverages themselves to have toys, and companies have become masters of manipulating customers with social media and all the information they get on individual buying habits, interests, and all that screen time they get to inundate them with ads. Not to even get into how badly the CPI index is manipulated to keep the # they report artificially low. If a base model Honda Civic increases in price $5k, but it gained features/technology compared to the previous model, it doesn't count toward the CPI, same is true for anything with technology. However the reality for the consumer is the cheapest Honda Civic you can buy just got $5k more expensive.
When I moved into my townhouse in 2016 it was valued at $225k, it's current value is just shy of $500k at 1400 square feet, suggested rent is $2500/mo. Most young professionals I know if they are living in an apartment outside a slum without roaches they are paying $2000 a month for a 2 bedroom, and $1500+ for a 1 bedroom. If they want to live downtown, or somewhere nice, it's more. It used to be rent on a nice middle of the road clean apartment was much lower than a mortgage but now they are similar. I just don't see how younger folks are ever going to put enough $ away to buy housing when rent is just as expensive as a mortgage. It's more critical than every for young people to make sure they get a really good paying job, are smart with their budgets, and put money away early on, however it's also become harder to do so.
I'm really thankful I lucked into a really good job, and my grandparents/parents really instilled in me the importance of saving $ early in my career, but even we spend way more than we should on crap.