The wealth gap between the young and old in america is the widest in history. The prolonged economic circumstances and decreasing job opportunities for youth had added to this gap.

(Creative Commons)

That the typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

The Pew Social Trends noted that housing was the main driver in wealth trends:

Rising home equity has been the linchpin of the higher wealth of older households in 2009 compared with their counterparts in 1984. Declining home equity has been one factor in the lower wealth held by young households in 2009 compared with their counterparts in 1984.

In addition, the cost of tuition costs leaves many young adults in debt before they can even begin their working careers. Newsday pointed out that the elderly have some kind of safety net in place that young adults do not have time or the resources to build.