By Russell Simmons and Maya Enista
The vast majority of Americans, including many policymakers at the highest levels of government, are still unaware of one of the most pressing economic issues facing our country. Many may think that everything newsworthy has been covered amidst the media firestorm surrounding foreclosures, banks, bailouts, and the stimulus packages that have consumed news cycle after news cycle in the last several months. Unfortunately, both in the media and among policy-makers, there is one group that has been unceremoniously overlooked.
The Millennial Generation, those born between 1976 and 1996, the heirs to our economic legacy and ultimately the bearers of our economic destiny, are being disproportionately affected by the crisis, but continue to go unnoticed. This is even though they face unemployment at a rate more than 8% higher than the national average, suffer under a crushing average of $27,000 in student loan, $2000 in credit card debt, and a healthcare crisis that leaves 30% of them without any insurance. In addition, as young people enter the workforce, they are being pitted against individuals with much more experience than they have for the same entry level jobs due to recent layoffs, making finding a job exponentially more difficult.
This perfect economic storm will have untold negative impacts if nothing is done by Congress to address these issues now by truly investing in the Millennial Generation.
The good news is that even as young people are being overlooked by the majority of policymakers, they are stepping up to the plate to take control of their own economic destinies. Millennials are on track to be the most civically and politically engaged generation ever.
Just recently Mobilize.org, the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE), the Roosevelt Institution, and a number of other youth organizations formed the "80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs" coalition, representing the collective voices of millions of Millennials. Its purpose: to give young people the tools they need to engage substantively with policymakers and propose solutions to these problems.
To this end, on Tuesday, 100 Millennials from across the country will convene in Washington, DC to partake in the "80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs" summit, where young people will develop collective solutions and federal legislation aimed at putting young people to work and launching our economy in a new direction. The ideas springing forth from this summit will be both revolutionary and full of promise. However, most impressive is the fact that that they will all be developed and proposed by engaged young people driven to be involved in making the policies that will define their economic futures.
The Millennial legislative agenda resulting from the summit will address several areas where Congress can act now to invest in young people. First, investing in "Mission Critical" jobs and training programs that will utilize new technologies ranging from the emerging green sector to increased online infrastructure and new frontiers in the healthcare industry. Second, creating volunteer-to-career pathways that will provide grants to young people working in unpaid local, state, and federal internships, so that Millennials can gain the experience they need to gain employment while staying afloat financially. And finally, funding programs to provide increased continuing education opportunities for new workers, and legislation that would provide an increased time frame for student loan repayments.
Hopefully, Congress takes heed of the rising chorus of Millennials calling for action in these increasingly important areas. It is time for our policymakers to invest in the generation that will define the future of our country, and in the process, help set America on the path to economic recovery.
Maya Enista is the CEO of Mobilize.org, a grassroots organization of Millennials dedicated to engaging young people in policymaking. Follow 80 Million Strong: twitter.com/@80ms
Think about that - actually demanding the government, who we choose, do something for us?
Responsibility to the people who elected them, what a novel idea!
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is an op-ed about GenJones as the new generation of leadership in USA TODAY:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones:
http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
How tough it is for these people when their biggest concerns are 2000 of credit card debt and school loans. Oh my god, not sure how they make it through the day.
Compare this situation with those faced by generations that faced starving to death, depression era unemployment, fight wars in Europe and Asia, dealing with wars in Korea, Vietnam.
Greatest Generataion?
Try privaledged to be in a generation that has had so much heavy lifting done for them. Indicative of a menatality out there that is far too prevelant.
How sanctimonious!
G.I. 1901-1924
Silent 1925-1942
Boom 1943-1960
13th (Gen X) 1961-1981
Millennial 1982-? (it was written in '91)
This seems right to me. I was born in 61 and never felt a part of the boomers (tho we were told we were)... We felt more like the unwanted little brothers and sisters. We literally sat at the kid's table in the 60s. I've always considered myself an early GenX.
The economy is a mess. The best thing you could do for me is to let me opt out of social security. No one my age actually believes that this money will be there for us when we are seniors, but they keep taking that money anyway. I would like to keep this money in my paycheck and invest it for my future myself.
How come you can opt out of social security for religious reasons, but not for reasonable or logical reasons??
I'm so tired of the whining about how hard young people have it today. It's often hard for people to get started, and in an economy like this it is hard on everyone. When I graduated in 81 the unemployment rate was similar to todays but the inflation rate was a staggering 16%. The first house we bought had a 13 1/2% mortgage. That was crushing. But, we learned to scrimp and do without and save. You don't need cable TV, you don't need a nice car, you can shop at resale shops for clothes and furniture, and have fun doing free things like hiking and picnicing instead of going to movies and sports events. Sometimes times are hard and sometimes they're easy. Make the best of both and don't whine about it.
We are very careful with our money. We drive an inexpensive car that we paid off early and rarely spend money on entertainment. Not all young people are financially irresponsible.
Our grandparents and (some might argue) our parents, did not know as much or have as much access to personal finance information as we do. I understand that they may need help as they age. However, there is no excuse for people in my generation to not be saving for their own retirement. At what point is that my responsibility instead of the governments?
By the way, I am more than willing to pay taxes for education and parks (even though I don't have children who use them and never will), but beyond that...taking care of your children is a parents responsibility...not the governments.
You CAN opt out of social security for religious reasons.
I've always objected to the idea that I'm paying into social security now and am probably not going to be allowed to collect it. But at the same time, any suggestion that we not pay into it is met with outrage by those about to collect, and so we're the ones stuck with a bill of goods, because no one else wants to take the hit.
This decision was made for us by politicians moreso than the average person who is looking forward to drawing their checks, so I largely understand their reasoning without feeling bitter about it, toward them at least.
It would be nice to opt out of it completely, but an impossibility. We're essentially getting robbed, and I think we all know it.
We are Gen Y. The Milleneals are those born after 1999-the children of the new millenium. The Milleneals actaully scare me a bit. They strike me as really competitive half-computer cyborgs. They are the inheritors of the new globalized job market and most of them will do well.
As for us, we think that problems should be solved collectively and that they always can be. Comparitively to the other generations, we are a bunch of sissys. But we get things done together and that's just we need right now. It's the zeitgeist working I suppose.
Of course we are ignored. The oldest of us is not 30. That's not much political or economic clout. Student protests are generally regarded to be fringe movements.
I think the problems of teenagers are equally important but that they are really the invisible people. Their civil liberities are constantly infringed upon (locker searches, drug testing, strip searches, city curfews restrictions of their freedom of speech and right to gather, ect), an unfair justice system imprisons large portions of them, they aren't safe at school and aren't educated at school, homelessness, their right in a divorce. These problems are always framed as someone elses problem-the city, the parent-never the teenager themselves.
There are more differences within the generations than between them. If you are born two years later than somebody else who is called a Generation Xer, are you really all that different from them. And really, as a human being, are you all that different from any other human? This whole idea of defining people simply based on what decade they were born in is ludicrous. The marketers and politicians keep trying to squeeze you into their pre-defined boxes, don't let them do it. And stop doing it to others.
Other than that, though, you're right on. Your generation has paid the price for the paranoia and selfishness of your elders. But I have a lot of faith in your ability to overcome these issues. In general, Gen Y is a creative and socially responsible group. The world will be safe in your hands.
@ smileatfear
And children are still part of a generation even though they're still children. As you said generations were invented by marketers and children influence the buying patterns of their parents.
If generations were so useless, then why would they be used? Clearly peoples' individual personalities is also important, but do you seriously think that the way people act and think about themselves hasn't changed over the past century? Have you read a Victorian novel lately? Can you imagine someone acting like a character in one of those?
Also a "me" generation is one where the people think about themselves. Gen-Y has grown up to value cooperative action. We work in groups in a democratic style. We value our role in a company and have expectations that the role will be valued on an equal footing with others. That's very different from the ambitious and indivdualist Gen X. This is often misinterpreted that we have to be told everything and if we are criticized or not told we're great!. We are high maintenence, but the "me" generation, no.
P.S.
My generation doesn't have a name.
It's not a culture war, it's just an observation. Of course, the other generation is going to complain about not getting their raise on time. But spare some sympathy for a generation that is never going to see a raise--only steeper declines and more retirees to support.
People graduating from my college with my degree make more than I did before I was laid off. Every time I would ask for a raise, they would tell me how lucky I was to have a job. I am on unemployment and I am lucky in that I do have parents who do make enough to help out occasionally. Do I ever see myself doing better than my parents? Not unless I marry well. It sickens me that I went to school to avoid that fate and it's all that's left to me now. I'm too old and not pretty enough to be a trophy wife, so I'm screwed.
The boomers have been throwing a collective tantrum for the last forty years and have brought this country close to ruin at least once per decade with their excesses and self indulgence. Of course there are exceptions, but as a rule the baby boomers have been a colossal pain in the a s s. What started as a idealistic anti-war movement and cultural enlightenment was squandered - first on drugs and disco, then on junk bonds, corporate megalomania, and unbridled greed.
I see the millennials as far more level-headed and practical. They possess a more creative and cooperative spirit that makes me far more optimistic than most.
Yes, the country is a mess, but the Great Depression forged the Greatest Generation. The millennials may develop the same strength of character that comes from adversity.
In the meantime, baby boomers, please go away.
are still figuring out where Generation Y begins and ends (1977-2000? or 1980-2002?) Either way we were really sandwiched in there between a big boom and a big blip. I have heard there is a movement to carve out 1954 to 1964 and call it Generation Jones because it was actually a unique period.
Thank god for it. Free at last.
I have to admit that I think the cultural civil war and identity crises that the boomers have been having since the late 1960's have soured me on their mode of leadership. They're the ones that adopted the McNamara-style management paradigm, where numbers dominate and people count for nothing, and run the businesses, they're the ones who decided to bring the polarization of politics to the fore, as an aftershock of their political coming of age, and frankly, they're the ones that put us in the deep stuff in foreign policy with a succession of neoconservative nonsense as some sort of attempt to measure up to their fathers, note all the World War II excuses for going to war in the Middle East, and getting it terribly, terribly wrong.
But rather than examine these things with satisfaction, it's much better to learn from them; know where the mistakes are and avoid them. Blame alone never solves anything. We have to draw lessons from what we find.