---
"title": "The Young Value Wealth the Most"
"description": "Wealth holds a great attraction for the young, according to a recent Pew Social Trends survey, with 20% of all adults under age 30 saying being wealthy is a top priority for them -- easily the largest proportion of any age group."
"date": "2008-05-28"
"authors":
  -
    "name": "Russell Heimlich"
    "job_title": "Former web developer"
    "link": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
"url": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/short-reads/2008/05/28/the-young-value-wealth-the-most/"
"categories":
  - "Comparison of Generations"
---

# The Young Value Wealth the Most

Wealth holds a great attraction for the young, according to a recent Pew Social Trends survey, with 20% of all adults under age 30 saying being wealthy is a top priority for them — easily the largest proportion of any age group — and another 42% saying it’s at least somewhat important to them. But the dream apparently diminishes with age. Only about 14% of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 place a high premium on being wealthy. And by the time adults reach their 50s, just one-in-ten place a similarly high priority on riches. Minorities also are significantly more likely than whites to value wealth. More than a quarter (26%) of all blacks says that it’s very important to them to be rich, nearly three times the proportion of whites (9%). Hispanics are more than twice as likely as whites to rate wealth as a top priority (21% vs. 9%). Overall, first-generation Americans are twice as likely as subsequent generations to say it’s important to them to be rich (25% vs. 12%).[Read More](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/pubs/816/who-wants-to-be-rich)