That's why it's a meaningless statistic. Because zero net worth is the status many people are in when young - which makes sense, you haven't had time to build a

That's why it's a meaningless statistic. Because zero net worth is the status many people are in when young - which makes sense, you haven't had time to build any net worth! And negative net worth happens when you take on debt, most commonly in the US student debt. Maybe there is a valid metric worth talking about, but this metric rates the average student in med school as extremely badly off, despite them very likely going on to become one of the top 10% when they're older. So this statistic is just not a very good way to look at this.