Why Do Young People Need A Better Deal?
By Tamara Draut
A version of this article first appeared in The American Prospect, February 25, 2008.
Today's young adults are very likely to be the first generation to not surpass the living standards of their parents. Evidence of their declining economic opportunity and security abound, from widespread debt to lower earnings in today's labor market for all but those with advanced degrees.
While this new generation is intensely engaged in the 2008 primary process, their pocketbook concerns remain on the margins of our political debate. A candidate visiting a college campus throws in something about the need for good jobs and lower tuition. But the stump speeches and debates are aimed primarily at middle-aged voters, using broad phrases like "strengthening the middle class" and ignoring the extreme economic insecurity of the young.
There are two compelling reasons why our politics needs a platform centered on the promise of expanding economic opportunity and security for a new generation. First, any effective agenda to shore up America's middle class will have to address young people. After all, it's between the ages of 18 and 34 that the major decisions affecting the trajectory of one's life are made: how much education to complete, what to do for a living, and when to start a family. Second, it could be a winning electoral strategy -- attracting not just the youth vote but that of parents and grandparents, voters who worry about the ability of their children and grandchildren to build a better life for themselves. Indeed, polls now show that the majority of Americans do not believe the next generation will be better off than they are.
It's not surprising when you consider what has changed in just one generation. Back in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, three factors helped facilitate the transition to adulthood. First, there were jobs that provided good wages even for high school graduates. A college degree wasn't necessary to earn a decent living. And if you wanted to go, college was far more affordable. The second was an economy that lifted all boats, with productivity gains shared by workers and executives alike. The result was a massive growth of the middle class, which provided security and stability for families. Third, a range of public policies helped facilitate this economic mobility and opportunity: a strong minimum wage, grants for low-income students to go to college, generously subsidized state college tuition, a reliable unemployment insurance system, enforcement of the right to join a union, major incentives for homeownership, and a solid safety net for those falling on hard times.
This world no longer exists. Relationships between employers and employees have become more tenuous, as corporations face global competitors and quarterly bottom-line pressures from Wall Street. Fringe benefits like health care and pension plans have been evaporating. As most families see their incomes stagnate or decline, they increasingly need two full-time incomes just to stay afloat, creating new demands and pressures on working parents. Getting into the middle class now requires a four-year college degree, and even that is no guarantee of the American dream.
But this increased insecurity for the young is not mainly the result of changes in the economy, for the economy is always changing. Rather, the insecurity reflects the failure of public policy to keep pace with the changes by providing the kind of buffers and counterweights that were widespread just a generation ago.
Continue reading article at The American ProspectTamara Draut, Vice President of Policy & Programs at Demos and the author of Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead.
A version of this article first appeared in The American Prospect, February 25, 2008. Click here to download the full text and to read other sections of this article:
- College: A Luxury-Priced Necessity
- The Disappearing "Real Job"
- Generation Debt
- High Cost Housing
- The Perils of Parenthood
