Not job hopping

Since the recession began in 2007, more millennials have moved into lower-paying jobs, such as at hotels and restaurants, and fewer work in higher-paying jobs in financial services and manufacturing. Such shifts mean median household incomes for people under 35 are lower than before the recession.

The average millennial earned $33,883 in 2013, compared with $40,352 for workers of all ages, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Roughly one-quarter of millennials earned less than $25,000 a year, and only 7 percent made more than $70,000, according to a recent Federal Reserve survey.

Cydni M. Robertson is content with the $42,000 a year she earns as a manager at a department store in Dallas, but she still has trouble making ends meet. Her household expenses consume about half of her income, when it should be closer to one-third.

“After student loans, my car note and feeding myself, there’s not much left,” the 24-year-old said. She rents an apartment but plans to move in with her sister next month to save money and build up a rainy-day fund.

For six months, Robertson paid $180 a month to whittle down $46,000 in student loan debt, but she just deferred payments for a year because it was “eating me alive.”

With difficulty finding work during and