The Recession’s Effect on Millennials Could Last for Decades
A look at Census statistics reveals that young Americans today are poorer than the young adults of past generations, the Kansas City Star reports.
About 28 million of the 70 million Americans ages 18 to 34 are not enrolled in school and are making less than $10,000 a year at their jobs. “The financial crisis and the Great Recession and its aftermath are hopefully the most significant economic calamity that this generation will experience,” labor economist and policy analyst Catherine Ruetschlin, a visiting professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told the Kansas City Star.
According to David Pasch, 26, a spokesman for Generation Opportunity, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for millennials, “research has shown that the scarring effect of unemployment on young people entering the workforce during a recession can affect their wage and salary income for up to 20 years.”