Jean Twenge, a San Diego State psychology professor and author of "Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before," said many are so far in debt that even a minor recession could be extremely challenging.
"Now they have to deal with losing their jobs, keeping their house and $4 gas," Twenge said.
Paradoxically, she said research shows that younger people have grown up in a time of great wealth but have more anxiety about their economic future than past generations.
"They seem to be looking into the future and understanding they may not have it as easy as their parents," she said.
Years of low unemployment may have masked the precarious finances of many young workers.
A study released last year by the Brookings Institution and the Pew Charitable Trust found that the median income of men in their 30s fell 12% from 1974 to 2004 when adjusted for inflation.
Charged up
Credit card debt for the average 25- to 34-year-old rose 52%, from $2,873 to $4,357, between 1989 and 2004, when adjusted for inflation, according to the research institute. The age group also experienced the largest increase in those making late payments during that period, up from 3% of all cardholders to 12%.
Nearly a quarter of all bankruptcies in 2006 were filed by people ages 25 to 34, up 40% in the last decade. But the age group makes up only 14% of the adult population.
The state of the economy has passed the Iraq war as the top concern for voters between ages 18 and 29, according to a poll this month by CBS News and MTV, raising the possibility that economic anxiety among younger workers could weigh heavily on the upcoming presidential election.
Kelly McAuliffe of Los Angeles can't believe how quickly she has gone from rushing to back-to-back business meetings to passing her days watching the Game Show Network and reruns of "Law & Order."
Since getting laid off from an online advertising company in February, the 34-year-old former sales director has stopped meeting friends for drinks and has pared her grocery list (less Whole Foods, more sales at Ralphs). She's scaling back her cellphone calls and where she drives because of rising gas prices.
To get by, she recently did the unthinkable: She borrowed money from her mother.
