Housing And Demographic

Consumer buying power and consequently spending changes through out their life time. People reach the peak of their spending between 45 and 54.¹ This point has been been discussed in by many researchers and many industries build their business model on its validity.

This brings us to the second point: this cohort of people is not growing anymore. It grow very fast between the seventies and nineties. And that explains the economic growth of that era. And, it can be explained by the baby boomer phenomenon.

Source: National Center of Heath Statistics

And from the perspective of general demographics the situation is not getting better. If we look at the people that are under 45 years old and they are about to enter the max spending zone, we have a slight increase in the population of the ages brackets below that. But, in 10 years that trend will reverse.

Source: United States Population Pyramid (2026)

1 - These numbers are from historical economics. The peak of the spending is changing drastically. For example, post COVID, the older population that had assets, vs job income, had the upper hand. Today the top 10% of population is responsible for 30%-50% of the spending. The numbers are disputed depending on where you look.
Measuring Spending in the Survey of Consumer Finances