Evenmillennials with good jobs end up diverting much of their income tostudent loan repayment, rather than investing in the stock marketor buying a home. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Millennials are way behind previous generations on a number ofkey financial metrics. Those born between 1981 and 1996 areburdened by significant student loan debt and the fact that many ofthem spent their first working years in the midst of an economicdownturn.

Millennials are way behind the two preceding generations ––Generation X and baby boomers –– on several key financial metrics,according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Their wages are lower,they have less money saved and they are less likely to own homes than their parents were at the sameage.

Related: How different are millennials' life goals fromtheir parents'?

In 2016, the average net worth of a household headed by thoseage 18 to 34 was roughly $92,000. In inflation-adjusteddollars, that was 40 percent lower than that of young households in2001 and 20 percent lower than that of young households in1989.

Similarly, only about a third of millennials owned homes in2016, compared to half of young people in 2001 and just under halfof young people in 1989.

The lackluster economic situation comes despite the fact thatmillennials are the most educated generation in history. A largerpercentage of the generation has a bachelor's degree or a graduatedegree than members of previous generations. A smaller percentagedid not graduate from high school.

However, those degrees have come with a heavy cost. Between 2004and 2017, the average student loan debt balance roughly doubled, to$10,600.

As a result, even those with good jobs end up diverting much oftheir income to loan repayment, rather than investing in the stockmarket or buying a home. This process has denied them much of thefruits of the past decade of economic growth.

Unfortunately, those who forgo higher education do not face goodeconomic prospects either. More so than any time in the past, thosewithout college degrees struggle to find good-paying jobs.Millennial households with college degrees have a median familyincome of about $105,000, which is more than twice that ofhouseholds with only high school diplomas.

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