Comment by slashcom

Indeed it may somewhat be a result of financial illiteracy, but today's young people are significantly better educated than previous generations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_...).

With the cost of education, healthcare, and housing all rising significantly faster than inflation, it's possibly just harder for many to save up that emergency fund. Indeed, it's particularly difficult to justify having an emergency fund if you're also facing five figure 8% interest student loans.