People in their early 30s are half as wealthy as those now in their 40s were at the same age, a report finds.
Today's 30-something generation has missed out on house price increases and better pensions, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Those born in the early 1980s have an average wealth of £27,000 each, against the £53,000 those born in the 1970s had by the same age, said the IFS.
They will also find it harder to amass wealth in the future, it added.
The think tank found that people born in the early 1980s were the first post-war group not to have higher incomes in early adulthood than those born in the preceding decade.
This generation's comparatively lower financial wealth was down to a combination of lower home-ownership rates, less access to final salary-type pension schemes, and stagnant wages, experts said.
The IFS included in its definition of "wealth" property owned, financial assets like savings, and wealth held in private pensions - minus any debts a person may have such as student loans or credit cards.
Simon, 32, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme rent was his single largest expense - taking up over a third of his wage - and many people his age felt they could not afford to have children.
He said his sister, who is ten years older, appeared to have benefitted in a way that he had not.
"There is a very sharp divide around the age of 34 or 35 - those I know 34 and younger can't afford to buy a house, whereas those 36 and older [like my sister] can," he added.
'It's a vicious cycle'
Jessica Lucas, 27
A lot of my friends can't find a way to get a deposit for a house. A lot of them are struggling - working full time, sometimes working two jobs - and that's just to rent.
Renting alone is causing us a lot of trouble to save up for a house, so I don't know how we're going to get out of the vicious cycle of renting to then own.
Adam Snape, 36
For pretty much everyone I know around my age it's hard to get a house. Everyone was spending on credit cards that were limitless and people could get another one and another one.
People didn't think they needed a plan really.
What is the norm now is renting. It's getting a lot more like Europe. It's becoming a bit of a daydream that people can buy a house.
Analysis
By Simon Gompertz, personal finance correspondent
It's no surprise to those in their 30s, born in the early 1980s, who've struggled to buy a home, while paying high rents and trying to put something aside for a pension, that their generation has fallen behind.
The stark numbers are that their average wealth including home, savings and pension, is £27,000 each, while those only 10 years older had wealth by the same stage in their lives of £53,000.
Fewer stepped on to the housing ladder early on if at all, so they've missed out on gains in house prices, and fewer have generous company pensions building up.
Which means that the outlook for this group isn't promising either.
The squeeze on pay has hit them harder: they're the first generation since World War Two to have lower incomes than those who came before.
And in old age they're likely to end up with less to live on.
Campbell Robb, housing charity Shelter's chief executive, said: "With sky-high house prices so out of step with average wages, it's no wonder a whole generation are being priced out of a home of their own and left with no choice but expensive, unstable private renting.
"At Shelter we see the impact of our chronic shortage of affordable homes every day, with thousands of people forking out most of their income on rent and left living from one pay cheque to the next."
But Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Susan Kramer said: "This is what happens when short-term political calculations override the need to build a better future for everyone.
"Year after year, government after government, we are failing to support the next generation, often because the simplest political solution is to focus purely on those more likely to vote. We need to redress the balance between generations."
A government spokesman said that since 2010 real progress had been made in improving people's living standards.
He said 2.7 million more people now have a job and the lowest paid have been given a pay rise with the national living wage
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