## Generational Concerns

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Generational Concerns](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/picture-this-generational-concerns-marta-doroszczyk)

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- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/picture-this-generational-concerns-marta-doroszczyk/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/picture-this-generational-concerns-marta-doroszczyk/index.json)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: MARTA DOROSZCZYK
- Published: March 3, 2025

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### Summary
- People in many countries are losing hope that children will be better off, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC.
- The article is by MARTA DOROSZCZYK and was published in F&D Magazine in March 2025.

### Key findings from the Pew survey
- Survey covered 36 countries.
- A median of 57 percent of respondents say most children will be worse off than their parents.
- Pessimism is especially high in advanced economies, including Canada, the United States, and many European nations.
- Pessimism is shared across age and income groups: “This pessimistic view about the economic future is shared by younger and older adults alike, as well as by people with higher and lower incomes,” Pew says.

### Regional differences and notable country figures
- Some fast-growing developing economies in Asia show strong optimism: India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines — at least 70 percent of respondents in these countries say children will be better off.
- Germany: share who think children will be poorer increased from 42 percent in 2019 to 61 percent today.
- United Kingdom: among respondents who say the gap between rich and poor is a very big problem, 88 percent think children will be worse off; among those who believe the wealth gap is not a very big problem, 66 percent think children will be worse off.

### Trends since the COVID-19 pandemic
- Pessimism has grown since the pandemic.
- In 15 out of 31 countries with comparable pre-pandemic data, a larger share of respondents now say children will be worse off compared with surveys before COVID-19.

### Link to perceptions of economic inequality
- Pew links pessimism about children's prospects to perceptions of economic inequality.
- “In most countries, people who consider the gap between the rich and the poor to be a very big problem are especially pessimistic about how children will fare financially when they grow up,” researchers said.

*MARTA DOROSZCZYK, F&D Magazine, March 2025.*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Picture This**
  - [Picture This (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/03/picture-this.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Picture This (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/03/picture-this.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/03/picture-this-generational-concerns-marta-doroszczyk_