Overfondness for luxury breakfasts such as avocado and egg toast is not the reason why a generation are not saving like their parents did

There is good reason why millennials are a generation of self-indulgent avocado-eaters who give little thought to their future. They do not earn enough and interest rates are not high enough to make saving as worthwhile as it used to be.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies analysed the wealth accumulation of different age groups to address concerns that younger people are not saving enough to afford the standard of living in later life that they might expect.

The research, by Rowena Crawford, an associate director, and David Sturrock, a research economist, slays the narrative that it is simply a lifestyle choice, instead placing the blame on economic factors such as weak wage growth and low interest rates.

Those factors influence behaviour, they write: “Using