Study claims millennials are increasingly left out of Spain’s middle class

HALF of those born in Spain between 1983 and 2002 entered the middle class when they reached 20 compared to 60 per cent of baby boomers, a study has found.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found the millennial generation in Spain were increasingly being shut out off the middle class.

The international development body said a rise in the costs of housing, education and healthcare was leading to a shrinking middle class. The OECD has called for governments to step in to reverse a trend it said was happening across the world.

About 60 per cent of those born between 1942 and 1964, members of the so-called ‘baby boom’ generation, were middle class by age 20.

The equivalent figure for ‘Generation X’, those born between 1965 and 1982, was 58 per cent. The proportion dropped to 50 per cent for those born between 1983 and 2002, according to the OECD.

The OECD defined a middle class family as one earning between 75 per cent and 200 per cent of the average yearly salary, between €11,450 and €30,542 in Spain’s case.