The U.S. economy has treated older generations much better than younger ones.

In the article "Wealth and Generations" in the June/July/August 2015 edition of Washington Monthly, Philip Longman explains that by focusing on the growing riches of the “1 percent,” we miss another form of inequality that is bigger, and arguably even more dangerous.

Longmans writes:

"These vastly different economic trajectories experienced by today’s living generations are basically unprecedented. Throughout most of our history, inequality between generations was large and usually increasing, to be sure, but for the happy reason that most members of each new generation far surpassed their parents’ material standard of living. Today, inequality between generations is increasing for the opposite reason. Though much more productive and generally better educated, most of today’s workers are falling farther and farther behind their parents’ generation in most measures of economic well-being."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaugust_2015/features/wealth_and_generations055898.php?page=all