Editing Generation X (section)

=====Income benefits of a college education=====
Generation X was the last generation in the U.S. for whom [[Issues in higher education in the United States#Financial value of degrees|higher education was broadly financially remunerative]]. In 2019, the [[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]] published research (using data from the 2016 ''[[Survey of Consumer Finances]]'') demonstrating that after controlling for race and age, families with heads of household born before 1980 had higher wealth and income when the head of household had post-secondary education. For those born after 1980, the wealth premium (of college education) was no longer statistically significant (in part because of the [[Cost and financing issues facing higher education in the United States|rising cost of college]]). The income premium, while remaining positive, had declined to historic lows, with more pronounced downward trajectories among heads of household with [[Postgraduate education|postgraduate degrees]].<ref name="Emmons Kent & Ricketts 2019">{{cite journal|last1=Emmons|first1=William R.|last2=Kent|first2=Ana H.|last3=Ricketts|first3=Lowell R.|year=2019|title=Is College Still Worth It? The New Calculus of Falling Returns|url=https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/2019/10/15/is-college-still-worth-it-the-new-calculus-of-falling-returns.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016192859/https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/2019/10/15/is-college-still-worth-it-the-new-calculus-of-falling-returns.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2019 |url-status=live|journal=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review|publisher=[[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]]|volume=101|issue=4|pages=297–329|doi=10.20955/r.101.297-329|s2cid=211431474|doi-access=free}}</ref>