Doom is the prefix du jour. Doomscrolling, doomposting, doomsplaining, doomspreading. Doom joins other recent suffixes -maxxing, -pilled, and -slop – giving discussions about contemporary life an overtly negative cast. Doomspending, in particular, is a new term for spending frivolously with no concern for future financial consequences. It has become synonymous with the declining fortunes of young westerners.

A survey by Credit Karma, a consumer fintech company, published in the fall of 2024, introduced the concept and the general parameters around it. Chronically online youth had begun coping with anxiety about the economy and world events with retail therapy. They claim 27% of Americans doomspend to deal with stress. The numbers rise to 37% of gen Z and 39% of millennials.

But while the term doomspending as a term is relatively new, the discourse around it echoes commentary that traces back to the aftermath of the Great Recession. When Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary went viral recently after castigating gen Z about their “$28 lunches”, I immediately thought of the heated blame game around millennials’ supposed love for “avocado toast” a decade ago: that was the treat many insisted was the real cause of declining home ownership among gen Z’s older siblings, the millennials.

But doomspending specifically is a more recent phenomenon, and it’s tied to changes in western economies since the financial crisis cratered the traditional life script almost 20 years ago. Save when you’re young and spend when you’re old doesn’t make sense in an inflationary........

© The Guardian