Current Events in February 2018

While companies like Uber and Google continue to move forward with autonomous vehicle technology, a new study suggests consumers’ trust in self-driving cars is low.

Almost 60 percent of drivers who currently own a connected car -- defined as a vehicle with certain “smart” technology features -- said they wouldn’t buy a self-driving car even if money wasn’t an issue, according to a survey conducted by Solace.

Many connected car drivers admitted they don’t always feel comfortable handing over the driving controls to their vehicle. While 62 percent of connected car drivers believe their vehicles help them drive safer, 40 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t trust their car to brake for them; a mere 9 percent said they “always trust their connected car.”

Millennials have the least trust

The study -- which drew its findings from the responses of 1,500 connected car drivers weighted against U.S. Census Bureau data -- found that young millennials are more likely to want full control of their vehicle compared to baby boomers.

Younger consumers are generally thought of as being open to new technology, but the survey found that almost half (46 percent) of respondents aged 18-25 said they would not trust their car to automatically react to driving conditions. Only a third of drivers 65 or older felt the same.

“The automotive industry is focused on bringing self-driving cars to the mass market, but our survey showed that connected car drivers of all ages just aren't ready to hand over the wheel," said Shawn McAllister, CTO of Solace.

"While advancements in autonomous vehicle technologies are incredibly exciting, it's important to keep an understanding of the consumer front and center. We hope our survey will help in this regard."

Connected car features

Those surveyed owned a car with connected device features such as Bluetooth connectivity, safety sensors, GPS navigation, remote door locks, WiFi, or voice assistance.

While most consumers said they’re becoming more comfortable with connected car features -- and are especially happy to receive safety and navigation assistance -- many drivers didn’t know what information their connected cars can store.

Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents weren’t aware that their connected vehicle could store personal information such as their home address, birthday, and social security number.

Overall, the findings suggested consumers are receptive to features that improve the driving experience -- but most aren’t eager to allow technology to completely take control.

Intel is taking another swing at fixing its Spectre-affected chips. This patch is for the Skylake-, Kaby Lake- and Coffee Lake-based platforms found on Intel’s 6th, 7th and 8th Generation Intel Core products, plus its latest Intel Core X-series processor series.

The company’s earlier attempts at patching the memory-leakage flaw caused computers using its chips to intermittently reboot or slow down. Microsoft even jumped in the middle and negated Intel’s fix.

“We are mindful of the fact that, in some cases, there are multiple mitigation techniques available that may provide protection against these exploits,” said Navin Shenoy, Intel’s Data Center Group EVP/GM in a company press release. “This includes ‘Retpoline,’ a Google-developed mitigation technique for Variant 2.”

Intel’s newest patch comes two months after the defects were first revealed to the public, but nine months after the flaws were first reported to the company. Intel played down the issues, saying that any performance impacts ”are workload-dependent, and, for the average computer user, should not be significant and will be mitigated over time.”

Not an easy flaw to wrestle to the ground

Spectre is quite the trickster. In the simplest of terms, it’s a vulnerability that misleads a program into accessing arbitrary locations in the program's memory space. An attacker may read the content of accessed memory, enabling them to potentially get hold of sensitive data.

Unhappy consumers wanting to resolve the issue basically have three options: 1) Leave things as they are and put their data at risk. 2) Bank on a host of software fixes that may or may not work. 3) Buy a new processor not affected by the flaw.            

To help consumers determine what Intel processor their computer uses, the company has created a video walk-through detailing the steps to take. Also available is a schedule of planned updates.

Will this hit Intel in the billfold?

Spectre has also put Intel in legal hot water. Some 30-odd customer and securities class action lawsuits have been filed. Consumers who have submitted claims say they have been harmed by Intel’s “actions and/or omissions” connected to the flaws and by the company making statements about its products and controls that were exposed to be false or misleading.

However, Intel’s stock is no worse for the wear -- at least not for the moment. The company’s stock was still on the upswing at the end of trading time on Wednesday, a trend that has been consistent for at least five years.

December is a good time to shop for a new car, but late winter into early spring is a good time to kick tires if you're looking for a dependable used vehicle.

Prices of used cars typically go down at this time of year, and 2018 is no exception. J.D. Power reports wholesale prices of used cars and light trucks dipped 0.6 percent in January.

More vehicles arrived on used car lots – perhaps trade-ins from December new car purchases – giving buyers more leverage. Since dealers are getting slightly better deals, consumers should feel a little more confidence as they try to negotiate the best deal on a used car or truck.

"The slight dip in used vehicle prices can be attributed to the premium segment,” said David Paris, executive analyst at J.D. Power Valuation Services. “In particular, luxury mid-size car prices fell by an average of 3.1 percent."

That means it might not cost as much as you think to buy a nicer vehicle, with upgrades like leather seats and a premium sound system.

Improved reliability

Increasingly, the selection of used vehicles is improving, as far as reliability is concerned. As we recently reported, a large percentage of consumers who purchased a new vehicle three years ago are still happy with it. In a J.D. Power survey, overall dependability rose by nine percent. As these vehicles are traded in, they should add to the quality of the used vehicle inventory.

At the end of the year, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) listed  the 10 best used car models under $8,000. Topping the list were the 2007 Toyota Avalon, 2007 Honda Accord, and the 2009 Honda Civic.

Buying from a reputable dealer should help consumers avoid some of the worst things associated with used cars, such as vehicles that have been damaged in floods. However, buyers should always remain alert to the fact that even a shiny late model car could have an open recall.

Carfax offers this free online tool that allows you to check a vehicles VIN to determine whether it has been recalled but not repaired.

Sales of existing homes suffered their biggest drop in three years in January, but the news was bad for consumers trying to buy homes, not those trying to sell them.

In short, the 3.2 percent decline in home sale transactions from December, and the 4.8 percent drop from January 2017, was not caused by a lack of demand from buyers but a lack of available homes from sellers.

Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors' chief economist, says the drop in sales highlights what he calls a glaring inventory shortage.

“The utter lack of sufficient housing supply and its influence on higher home prices muted overall sales activity in much of the U.S. last month,” Yun said.

Again, that’s good news if you're trying to sell a house but not so good if you're a buyer – especially a first-time buyer. Inventory is lowest in the entry-level housing market.

Rising home prices

The median price for all existing homes was $240,500 in January, up 5.8 percent from January 2017. With fewer homes on the market, the law of supply and demand is pushing prices higher.

The total housing inventory in January was 9.5 percent lower than a year ago. It's been down for 32 straight months, with only a 3.4 month supply of homes on the market last month.

“It’s very clear that too many markets right now are becoming less affordable and desperately need more new listings to calm the speedy price growth,” Yun said.

Not enough homebuilding

Yun returns to a common theme from the last several years; until builders start putting up more new homes, inventory levels will remain constrained.

“The underproduction of single-family homes over the last decade has played a predominant role in the current inventory crisis that is weighing on affordability,” Yun said. “However, there’s hope that the tide is finally turning. There was a nice jump in new home construction in January and homebuilder confidence is high.”

The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that housing starts for new homes rose 9.7 percent in January over December and were up 7.3. percent from January 2017.

So far, however, most new construction has been for the move-up and luxury markets, with fewer homes for first-time buyers. Facing higher costs for land and labor, builders have recently focused on homes with a higher profit margin.

In 2005, at the height of the housing bubble, the Census Bureau reported 2.15 million building permits for homes were issued in the U.S. That number dropped to just 583,000 in 2009 and had only recovered to 1.26 million by 2017.

We normally think of Salmonella as affecting food, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that it's also being found in kratom, a plant that mimics the effects of opioids.

According to a bulletin from the CDC, a multistate Salmonella outbreak has been traced to supplements made from the plant. The outbreak, which began in October, has resulted in at least 11 people being admitted to hospitals for treatment, but no deaths have been reported.

Health researchers traced the cases to kratom when they sequenced DNA of Salmonella samples collected from patients around the country. Because the samples all had the same genetic makeup, the researchers concluded that they all came from the same source.

"At this time, CDC recommends that people not consume kratom in any form because it could be contaminated with Salmonella," the CDC advised in its bulletin.

Timely topic

Kratom has been in the news lately since its advocates view it as a way to treat pain without using highly addictive opioid drugs. In October 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was poised to criminalize use of the plant, but it backed away from that position after facing Congressional opposition and a social media storm.

But Washington officialdom remains skeptical. Earlier this month, Food and Drug Administrator Scott Gottlieb warned consumers about kratom, saying an FDA analysis shows compounds in the plant act like prescription-strength opioids.

"There is no evidence to indicate that kratom is safe or effective for any medical use," Gottlieb said. "The scientific data and adverse event reports have 'clearly revealed' that compounds in kratom render it more dangerous than 'just a plant.'"

Consumer backlash

The statement sparked an immediate backlash. The American Kratom Association consumer group called the FDA’s statement an "unprecedented abuse of science to create a new computer program that is clearly garbage in, garbage out avoiding the rules of the Controlled Substances Act and making unproven claims that have been proven to be untrue."

Kratom does, in fact, have some of the same effects on the brain as opioid drugs, which is why it is used by some as a natural pain reliever. The plant, which is native to Southeast Asia, is a legal commodity and can be purchased online.

On Thursday, the FCC is expected to publish its December order overturning net neutrality rules, sources told Reuters.

The official publication of the measure in the Federal Register will mark the start of a 60-day window of time that Congress has to vote on whether to overturn the decision to scrap net neutrality rules.

Once published, state attorneys general and advocacy groups will also be able to sue in a bid to block the order from taking effect.

In December, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to overturn net neutrality laws, which stop internet service providers (ISPs) from speeding up or slowing down internet traffic or charging more for certain content.

One vote short

U.S. Senate Democrats said in January that 50 senators have backed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to preserve the rules -- one vote short of the 51 the measure needs to pass the Senate.

In an effort to get the support of one more Republican, net neutrality activists and tech companies are planning an online protest next week called Operation: #OneMoreVote, which aims to reverse the FCC's repeal of net neutrality by convincing lawmakers to sign onto the CRA.

But even if Democrats win a majority in the Senate, a repeal would also require wading through GOP resistance in the House of Representatives, and President Trump would still need to sign it into law.

Rolling back Obama-era net neutrality rules would mark a victory for ISPs like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon since it would give them control over how consumers connect to online content.

The December FCC order will be made public on Wednesday and formally published on Thursday, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Supreme court has rejected an insurance industry challenge to California's Proposition 103, a law reforming insurance company practices.

Mercury Insurance and State Farm led the challenge, unsuccessfully seeking the high court's review of a law requiring, among other things, state approval for insurance rate hikes.

California voters approved Proposition 103 in 1988. It mandated an immediate 20 percent insurance rate rollback and set up a system to make it easier for consumers to participate in rate-setting proceedings.

The case actually stemmed from a 2013 lower court ruling that rejected Mercury's request to raise homeowners’ insurance rates by eight percent. The court actually ordered Mercury to lower rates by eight percent, leading the company to argue that Proposition 103's provisions violated its right to earn a fair profit.

$100 billion in savings

Consumer Watchdog says Proposition 103 has saved California consumers at least $100 billion since it was enacted, and it believes that's the reason it is under industry attack.

"Insurance companies like Mercury and State Farm have not stopped attacking Proposition 103 since the voters passed it nearly three decades ago," said Pamela Pressley, Consumer Watchdog's lead attorney on the Mercury case.

"Today's action by the United States Supreme Court makes clear that the insurance industry has no constitutional right to rip us off."

Consumers' role

The California Department of Insurance, which opposed Mercury and State Farm in their Supreme Court appeal, said the success of Proposition 103 over the last three decades has largely depended upon consumer participation.

"The Department repeatedly found that consumers made a 'substantial contribution' to insurance rate decision making, bringing to the Department's attention issues it might not otherwise have considered and enabling the Department to reach the best decision possible for consumers," the agency said on its website.

A report by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that California consumers sent 0.3 percent less on car insurance in 2010 than they did in 1989, while nationally consumers spent 43.3 percent more.

Insurance companies point to those same statistics to argue they are being denied a reasonable profit.

State Farm filed suit in San Diego Superior Court in 2016 to block $250 million in rate reductions and refunds, claiming it can't afford to lower its homeowners insurance premiums. The case is expected to go to trial next month.

In Europe, where consumers are protected by tougher privacy and data regulations than they are in the United States, judges have once again ruled that Facebook is breaking the law.

A court in Belgium on Friday ordered Facebook to stop tracking and recording the browsing habits of non-users, “as it does not bring its practices in line with Belgian privacy legislation.”

The Belgium verdict follows a ruling against Facebook in Germany last Monday.  In the latter case, a Berlin judge ruled that eights clauses in Facebook’s terms of service are illegal and that Facebook’s default privacy settings do not give users adequate consent or allow them to easily opt-out.

“Facebook hides default settings that are not privacy-friendly in its privacy center and does not provide sufficient information about it when users register,” an attorney with The Federation of German Consumer Organisations,  the organization that brought the lawsuit against Facebook,  said in a statement.

Facebook says they plan to appeal the Berlin court’s decision.

Facebook ordered to publicize judgment

In the Belgian verdict, judges ordered Facebook to destroy data that they determined was “illegally obtained” and publicize the court’s unflattering findings about itself.

The judges not only demanded that Facebook publish “the entire 84-page judgment on its website,” but also stipulated that Facebook publish a portion of the judgement in Dutch-language and French-language Belgian newspapers.  

Facebook, which has so far given no indication that it plans to follow the order, faces fines of 250,000 euros a day or a max-out of 100 million euros for not complying.

“The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU,” Facebook’s public policy spokesman Richard Allan told TechCrunch in a statement.

“We require any business that uses our technologies to provide clear notice to end-users, and we give people the right to opt-out of having data collected on sites and apps off Facebook being used for ads.”

Tracks non-users

Facebook’s use of tracking codes through social plug-ins, commonly known as “cookies,” allows the social media giant to sell targeted advertising. The cookies work by collecting the browsing habits of consumers, even those who do not use the social media site or who have cancelled their accounts.

“This does not only concern Facebook users, but almost all internet users in Belgium and Europe,” Belgium's Privacy Commission, the agency that filed suit against Facebook, explains on its website.

Belgian watchdogs have been fighting the practice since 2015 with a civil suit and subsequent judgement which orders Facebook to stop invisibly tracking consumers or face hefty fines. But Facebook fought the ruling  with the argument that the Belgian courts did not have jurisdiction over its business because Facebook’s Europe office is headquartered in Ireland.

Facebook’s appeals have been repeatedly shot down by the Belgian courts trying to crack down on the company. Much like the recent ruling in Germany, a report commissioned by the Belgian Privacy Commission in 2015 determined that Facebook’s privacy settings do not give users informed consent and that its terms of service violate European consumer privacy laws.

Higher European standards irk companies

While Facebook does allow users to opt-out of the tracking cookies, that this option is only available for people with a Facebook account,  not non--users. “The current practice does not meet the requirements for legally valid consent,” the Belgian Privacy Commission report said.

The European Union considers data protection to be a fundamental right and places broad regulations on the tech, financial, and advertising industries over how they handle data.

But tech giants have bristled at European attempts to regulate data collection and other aspects of their businesses. Last summer, European regulators fined Google a record 2.4 billion euros after finding it was manipulating search results in a manner that promotes its own shopping services over competitors. It was the largest antitrust fine implemented to date by the European Union.

Google responded by offering concessions, such as opening its “shopping” search results to competitors, but it also appealed the ruling in September.

Google’s Project Zero -- a team responsible for finding zero-day vulnerabilities -- has uncovered a security flaw in Microsoft’s Edge browser. The flaw allows hackers to circumvent Edge’s security and deposit malicious code on users’ devices.

The severity of the vulnerability ranks as “medium,” and Microsoft has detailed what it considers to be the best steps for Edge users to take. Those steps include updating a computer’s antivirus software, Windows security, and computer firmware.

“The fix is more complex than initially anticipated,” said Microsoft. However, the company proactively stated that its teams were “positive that (the fix) will be ready to ship on March 13th.” Until then, some technology consultants recommend using a different browser as an added safeguard.

Microsoft and Google find themselves back in the boxing ring

Google’s standard operating procedure is to let the company affected by any flaw know immediately and give them 90 days to get it fixed before Google goes public with its discovery.

In Microsoft’s case, the complexity of the fix and the time given to repair it wasn’t a perfect scenario for the company, and Google supposedly shaming Microsoft in public by disclosing the flaw only raised its hackles more.

The companies have gone at each other before, seemingly working overtime to find holes in each other’s products. Microsoft found a flaw in Google Chrome last October and gave Google 90 days to fix it before Microsoft went public with the news.

That 90-day policy is one of two things at the core of the two tech giants’ loathing of each other, with the key element being if 90 days is “reasonable.” Google has extended grace periods from time to time, but it’s also been known to disclose a vulnerability if it’s being aggressively manipulated. A case in point is Google’s disclosure of a serious Windows bug back in 2016 a mere 10 days after reporting it to Microsoft.

The other spite comes from Google wanting the tech world to adopt its hard-hitting disclosure policies. So far, Microsoft hasn’t acquiesced, and the debate continues to rage on whether Google should be driving the way security flaws in competing operating systems are divulged to the public.

Since purchasing Whole Foods in 2017, Amazon has made several changes to the way the high-end grocery retailer does business, including slashing the prices of some Whole Foods bestsellers and offering free two-hour delivery to Prime members in select cities.

Now, Amazon has announced that Prime members will get 5 percent back at Whole Foods when using their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature credit cards. Customers with the non-Prime version of the card will earn 3 percent back.

The cashback incentives are already available at Amazon.com. The perks were launched in the hope of encouraging spending on Amazon and fueling purchases of Amazon’s $99 per year Prime membership, as well as encouraging Prime members to shop at the Whole Foods.

Extending the perks to Whole Foods shoppers will be the first time Amazon has offered 5 percent back on purchases made outside its website.

Amazon’s latest move since acquiring Whole Foods falls in line with CEO Jeff Bezos’ ultimate vision for Prime, which he has previously said is to make its selection of rewards and offerings so plentiful that it simply becomes “irresponsible” for consumers not to sign up.  

Amazon cardholders who earn rewards at Whole Foods stores can choose to convert them into a statement credit or redeem them online to make purchases on Amazon or other eligible sites.

GlaxoSmithKline is recalling one lot of Ventolin Diskus inhalers that may not deliver the intended dose.

Ventolin Diskus is a prescription drug used in adults and children 4 years or older to relieve and prevent bronchospasm due to asthma, chronic bronchitis and other chronic lung disorders.

Bronchospasm is a sudden worsening of shortness of breath and wheezing.

Individuals who do not receive the intended dose may not be aware that the dose was not delivered. Their symptoms (cough, wheeze, breathlessness or tight chest) may get worse over time and they can suffer serious health consequences, including a potentially life-threatening asthma attack.

The following product, sold throughout Canada, is being recalled:

• Ventolin Diskus (200 mcg salbutamol per blister (60 Dose) (DIN 02243115)) Lot 786G, Expiry 05 2019

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should return it to the pharmacy where purchased for a replacement.

Consumers with questions or concerns may contact GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) via Stericycle (which is managing the recall on GSK’s behalf) at 1-855-215-5956.

Cryptocurrency trading has been largely unregulated since it developed as an economic force, but that could be about to change, at least in the U.S.

Key members of Congress say they are open to developing new rules to address the risks that have appeared in a turbulent cryptocurrency market, according to a report by Reuters.

“There’s no question about the fact that there is a need for a regulatory framework,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a Senate Banking Committee member, told Reuters.

Congress has taken notice over the last 12 months as speculative trading, primarily in Bitcoin, has pushed values to astronomical levels. Bitcoin was valued at around $1,000 a year ago but surged to nearly $20,000 by mid-December.

It has since crashed to Earth, falling below $7,000 early this month, only to rally back to $11,000 over the weekend. Lawmakers and regulators are concerned that unwary investors could lose massive amounts of money if they buy at the wrong time.

International concerns

Internationally, regulators have raised concerns over how cryptocurrencies are being used. They say the digital currency could make it easier to launder money and raise capital to finance terrorist activities.

Political leaders in Germany and France have pushed to place the issue of cryptocurrencies on the agenda at the next G20 meeting.

Earlier this month, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the world of cryptocurrencies and the oversight being provided by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Committee chairman Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), said there is plenty to be concerned about.

“Much of the recent news about virtual currencies has been negative; between the enforcement actions brought by your agencies, the hack of the international Coincheck exchange, and the concerns raised by various regulators and market participants, there is no shortage of examples that increase investor concerns," Crapo said.

Crypto scams

Last week, the CFTC issued its first "pump and dump" advisory on digital currencies that warned consumers to be wary of schemes that promise huge returns by investing in cryptocurrencies.

"As with many online frauds, this type of scam is not new - it simply deploys an emerging technology to capitalize on public interest in digital assets," said CFTC Director of Public Affairs Erica Elliott Richardson. "Pump-and-dump schemes long pre-date the invention of virtual currencies, and typically conjure the image of penny stock boiler rooms, but customers should know that these frauds have evolved and are prevalent online."

Richardson warned that even experienced investors can become targets of professional con men who are experts at deploying seemingly credible information about investments in an attempt to deceive.

Downloading graphics from Google Images will take an extra step going forward.

Gone are the days where users could search for images, find one they like, and download the image directly by clicking on the "View Image" button without having to leave Google’s confines. Now, users must make an extra click that goes to the website hosting the image and download it from there.

The Search by Image button was also axed, but Google’s “reverse image search” still functions as it always has.

“These changes came about in part due to our settlement with Getty Images this week," Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, tweeted late last week. "They are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value."

The pushback against image piracy

The underlying factor in this is making sure copyrighted images – especially Getty’s – have another layer of security.

“This agreement between Getty Images and Google sets the stage for a very productive, collaborative relationship between our companies,” said Dawn Airey, CEO of Getty Images. “With this landmark achievement, we can move forward with a strong partner to deliver innovative ways to access creative and editorial content online. It also advances our mission to move the world with images.”

Whether it was a stare-down or just smart business with a profitable upside for both companies, the only unhappy party appears to be Google Images’ users. Sullivan’s Twitter announcement about the change riled up hundreds of users who protested loudly.

Many of the naysayers promised to move elsewhere for their image searches. “Did you want your user base to move to Bing? ‘Cause this is how you move them to Bing,” said one Twitter user in reply to Sullivan’s tweet.

However, Bing isn’t the only search engine who might benefit from the change. DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, TinEye, and the “View Image” browser add-on will all look to gain from Google Images’ shift. The big question is whether the long arm of Getty Images will eventually find its way to other search engines, as well.

A report by British researchers has found millennials in the UK have fallen behind other generations economically, a trend that appears to be replicated across all developed nations.

The Resolution Foundation found people born between 1981 and 2000 generally have a lower standard of living than the generations that came before. The report focused on household income and employment trends to reach its conclusions.

"Overall, the pace of generation-on-generation growth in household income – a common benchmark of day-to-day living standards – has slowed across high-income countries," the authors write. "It is common for millennials who’ve already reached their early 30s to have experienced little or no income improvement on generation X."

Bad timing

Part of this economic disparity may stem from timing. The leading edge of the millennial generation entered adulthood and the workforce at about the time the economy nearly collapsed. The financial crisis of 2008 reduced job opportunities and began a period of wage stagnation. Those lucky enough to find jobs weren't paid as much as they might have been before the crash.

The housing market has also had an effect. Home prices have risen in the last decade as millennials have entered their household formation years. Those who are able to purchase a home have to use a larger portion of their income to pay for it.

The report focuses on millennials in the UK but notes the trend is evident throughout the developed world.

"Public concern about the living standards of young adults compared to those of their parents’ generation is evident across high-income countries, and our findings indeed point to many areas in which the generational challenge appears shared," the authors write.

The report shows that millennials in the UK and Greece have lost the most ground economically, but in other developed countries millennials, and even members of generation X, have real incomes that are little or no higher than their predecessors’ income at the same age.

Role of housing

In the U.S., millennials' economic struggles are most evident in the housing market. A 2017 report by Unison Home Ownership Investors documented the barriers faced by first-time homebuyers, largely made up of millennials.

While 77 percent of consumers agree that buying a home is a good financial decision, 41 percent identified scraping together the money for a down payment as the biggest hurdle.

Broken down by age groups, the survey found Millennials are most likely to worry about the cost of housing. Fifty-six percent worried about what a home would cost to purchase and maintain, as opposed to 47 percent of Baby Boomers expressing similar concerns.

Nearly 60 percent of Millennials reported rent and mortgage payments as a strain on their budget each month, slightly higher than their Gen X and Boomer predecessors.