Less booze, more healthcare: Fascinating graphic shows how millennials spend compared to their boomer parents

When boomers were young adults they had different priorities to millennials today.

Young adults, aged between 25 and 34, spend less on alcohol and tobacco than their parent's generation did when they were younger - and more on fruits and healthcare, according to data from the Labor Bureau.

Business Insider analyzed the spending data of young adults in 1989 and in 2022 and compared the breakdown of their annual expenditures after adjusting for inflation.

In general, it found that those in their late 20s and early 30s in 1989, many of whom are boomers, spent more on beef, alcohol and buying homes.

By contrast, millennials with new habits are spending their money on fresh fruit, vegetables, nonalcoholic beverages and healthcare.

The category that saw the largest decrease in spending was reading, perhaps telling of the advent of the computer and the smartphone. Spending on books and other reading materials was almost 70 percent down.

Next was tobacco products. Back in 1989 the average young adult was spending some $593 a year on cigarettes and smoking supplies. In 2022, that was down 69 percent to just $277.

And on the other hand, American youth in 2022 were spending almost twice the amount they were almost 30 years ago on healthcare - $982 as opposed to $541.

The analysis made use of data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys program published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also adjusted for inflation using the agency's consumer price index.

It considered those aged between 25 and 34 in 2022 to be millennials, since the last members of that generation were born in around 1996.

One notable and expected difference between young adult expenditure in 1989 and 2022 relates to home ownership.

Millennials today are struggling to purchase homes thanks to expensive mortgages and low housing inventory.

As such, millennials were spending almost 60 percent more in 2022 on rented housing than boomers were in 1989.

Another significant change was around health insurance.

In 1989, young adults were spending on average $755 a year on health insurance. In 2022 however, they were spending over three times more - $2,325 a year. 

The modern youth is also spending more on auto insurance, gas and motor oil but less on used cars and trucks.

Perhaps most striking were the different expenditures on food and drinks.

In 2022, young Americans were spending 71 percent more on fresh fruit - $388 as opposed to $227 a year.

In 1989, they were spending more on meats and alcohol, whereas now they seem to prefer fresh produce and nonalcoholic drinks, according to the data.

While around 29 percent more money was spent in 2022 on eggs, about 55 percent less was spent on fresh milk and cream. Spending on sugar and poultry was about the same. 

Meanwhile,  generational war is erupting between baby boomer parents and their millennial children as the Reserve Bank's aggressive interest rate hikes spark legal disputes.

Unaffordable property means first-home buyers are increasingly turning to the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' for help getting on to the property ladder.

In many cases, parents have loaned money to their children.

But since the RBA's 13 rate hikes began in May 2022, younger borrowers are finding they can't to repay their parents and service their mortgage at the same time.