Category Archives: politics

Be the Change

Posted on January 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to join a small group at Ariel Investments last night to hear Alan Khazei talk about his book, “Big Citizenship: How Pragmatic Idealism Can Bring Out the Best in America.”  The book chronicles the challenges and successes of starting City Year and later Be the Change. In between, he rallied a grass-roots and grass-tops crusade to save Americorps. The man is inspiring.The fund-raising feats alone are worth reading

City Year and Americorps are two public/private ventures that encourage young people to do a year of service, ranging from tutoring kids to building homes, to visiting the elderly. The reward–beyond the satisfaction that comes from belonging to a community and giving back–is a stipend to put toward college.

Having just spent the last few years reading transcripts from interviews and talking to many young adults, I know the level of existential angst out there when faced with the question, What do I want to do with the rest of my life? I always think of that scene in “The Graduate,” with Dustin Hoffman back home for the summer, attending his parents’ boozy pool party. All the adults swarm around asking him, so, what are you going to do next? Despondent at the thought, he dons the snorkel and mask and plunges into the deep end of the pool. With that, he captured the universally bewildering reckoning at age  21 or 22 when you’re supposed to declare your lifelong intentions and yet you have absolutely no idea what life is even about yet. Most of us run for the hills.

But what if we had a year (or two) to just skip all the thinking and planning and put aside our own solipsistic world and roll up our sleeves and help someone else? The sheer relief at not having to think about your own dilemma is enough of a selling point, but then add to it a chance to truly help someone else, to make a difference in someone’s life, to step out of the confines of your own security blanket and lend a hand. The maturity gained would alone be worth the time.

Why don’t we mandate this? Young people are already hooked in to a system of community service in high school, and many continue to serve after high school. But if we mandated a year of service, with a stipend at the end for more education, think of the possibilities– for both young people and the country.

Many countries already mandate a year of military service. Why not community service? You wouldn’t have to do it right at age 18 or 19, but some time before you were 26, what if you had to give back a year of your time, part-time or full-time to some sort of service project.  I know we’d get a lot of foot-dragging from those who have no desire to do it, but so what. We get a lot of foot-dragging from teenagers forced to attend high school, too. The mandate would have to come with covered living expenses while serving so those who can least afford it can take part as well. But just think of the positive things that could come out of it.  Not only would we create a gap year where young people could figure out who they are and what they might want to do, but we’d spark a dormant sense of citizenship, that we’re all in this together, no matter who we are or where we live.

That’s in part what the book Big Citizenship is getting at.  The book is more about how citizens can come together to make a difference than it is about the nuts and bolts of these great organizations. And in that, I found the inspiration. We forget sometimes that it is truly “we the people” that make a difference. As Alan said last night, there has never been a movement in this country that was started by the government or by big business. They were all started by the people. From the farmers in 1776 who laid down their pitchforks and took up muskets to go head to toe with the greatest power at the time, to the men and women in the Greatest Generation who took on Hitler, to those who refused to go to the back of the bus—it’s been individuals coming together who have sparked change. If ever there was a time in this country to renew our commitment to each other and to a more civil, more participatory union, this is it.

Luckily, we’re inching toward a more service-driven nation. Khazei was instrumental in getting the Kennedy Serve America Act passed with bipartisan support. The act expands Americorps from 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017. It increases the educational award to $5,350, which nearly matches the Pell Grant. It established five “problem-solving corps” that focus on specific issues: clean energy, healthy futures, veterans, and the poverty-fighting “opportunity corps.” It also established a civilian counterpart to the Army reserves to respond to natural disasters.

The act encourages more young people to join by recognizing two- and four-year campuses that promote service learning and public service careers. There are youth empowerment zones to encourage those in high school or who have dropped out to get involved. And there’s the “summer of service” program for 6-12th graders. Even the old-school Boomers can get involved by earning action awards for 350 hours of service, which can be turned into educational dollars for their grandkids.

A strength, as least for sustainability, is that this is not a solely government-funded program. It’s a private/public partnership, with funding from corporations as well as government. And all this from a handful of people who had a vision, some ambition, and knew how to inspire others to give back. It takes a lot to get these kinds of efforts off the ground: years of tireless commitment, begging and pleading for money from sponsors, weathering disappointments and soldiering on despite them. People like Alan Khazei and the countless others who have this kind of vision should be the lead story in our media. This is the kind of entrepreneurship we need more of. As Obama said in his State of the Union, we need to hold up not only NFL players but also the scientist. We might add the social entrepreneur as well.

Right now, though, too few take part. We need to do better.  Here’s an idea–promise to forgive some of the college debt. THEN you’d get a fast enrollment bump. Until then, with the unemployment rate for young people hovering around 15%, why not take a lost year and turn it into something better. Nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.

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Who says this generation is apathetic?

Posted on January 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

I’m just starting to read a new book by Alan Khazei called “Big Citizenship.” Khazei co-founded a nonprofit organization called City Year, which unites young adults ages 17-24 for one year of full-time community service mentoring, tutoring, and educating children.  City Year served as the model and inspiration for President Clinton’s AmeriCorps program and now operates in 20 U.S. cities, as well as Johannesburg and London. He more recently launched Be the Change, Inc., in 2007. The guy is amazing–and he’s got me hooked on his enthusiasm and I’m only on p. 25.

His book, and his work, get to the heart of what makes this generation tick: giving back to their communities. We hear a lot about the apathy of the younger generation. But once again, I think that’s a case of looking in all the wrong places for social action. It’s true that young people are not voting as much as generations before them did (we’re all not voting as much). But that doesn’t mean they’re not taking part in their communities. This generation, in fact, is much more likely to volunteer than my generation was. The habit may have begun as a requirement in high school (kids often need to fulfill “service learning” requirements to graduate), but it doesn’t stop there. Many more college graduates continue to volunteer than in the past. (That said, volunteering and civic participation is yet another clear divide between the more- and less-educated groups. There is a sharp drop-off after high school in civic action by those with the least education.)

This latest generation combines the skills they learned in service learning with another famous trait of theirs: self-confidence. Many complain that 20-somethings are entitled or think too highly of themselves. I see it differently. Sure there are examples of young people who haven’t a clue what service, effort, or work actually means (and they’re usually in the service sector alas). But for every one of those clueless 20-somethings, there is Natasha, Sean, Ashley, or Geneva, or Zena:

Zena is the 32-year old founder of both the South Bronx Food Cooperative and the South Bronx Food Foundation. She has dedicated her life to bringing affordable, healthy food to people in the Bronx and is ready to pursue a new project called A Kid Grows in NYC. The project will provide students with tools and teachers with lesson plans to grow healthy foods in classrooms, as an alternative to sugary foods. Students can also use the food to begin school-based farmers markets and cooking classes.

Geneva is an 18-year old freshman at Columbia University. As a former foster child legally adopted at the age of 10, Geneva is personally familiar with the neglect that many foster children experience. She is especially concerned about teenagers in foster care, who are phased out of the system but often lack the skills and encouragement to get jobs and lead fulfilling lives. In her Fostering Greatness project, Geneva will visit Harlem foster homes 2-3 times per week to teach foster kids various skills, from financial budgeting to interview etiquette. Her goal is to help these teenagers gain confidence and positivity about their futures that the foster care system does not provide.

Sean, a 22-year old artist and writer from Brooklyn. He is starting Artists for All Stripes, a free weekly art class for children at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He and 3 trained artists will teach the art classes, including an ex-Disney cartoonist who will help the kids learn to draw caricatures. Sean’s goal is to help 15 kids express themselves through art in a fun, open environment.

Ashley is a 20-year old junior at Columbia University. When she was in elementary school, she participated in a reading program called Battle of the Books, which helped her develop a love of reading. Ashley is concerned that kids in urban schools do not have similar opportunities. She is starting a Battle of the Books after-school program for 20 fourth and fifth grade students at P.S. 145 in West Harlem. Her goal is for the 20 students to leave with new friendships, a greater appreciation of reading, and a new assurance in their own academic abilities.

Natasha Dillon is a 26-year old student and activist that advocates for LGBT rights, protection and equality. She is concerned that 9 out of 10 LGBT students experience harassment at school and are at a much higher risk for suicide, substance abuse, homelessness and HIV/AIDs. For her project, Natasha will start Guiding Proud, which will provide a safe space for LGBT youth to meet and connect with LGBT role models. Guiding Proud will allow these teenagers to connect face-to-face with LGBT adults who have lived through the same bullying, harassment and confusion. Five youth will meet with 10 adults for a monthly group outing to bowling alleys, museums, etc.

All these and 10 other pilot projects  are part of an ambitious (and heartening) program organized by 20-somethings, called Pando Project. Their initiative, self-confidence, and commitment to giving back are truly inspiring. Check it out! And never again say that young adults are apathetic.

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Young adults take it to the streets

Posted on December 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

Are we on the brink of a worldwide youth revolt? Young adults in London have taken to the streets to protest cuts in education spending and tuition hikes. Students in Bologna, Italy, did likewise.  Unemployment among young adults in Europe is staggering, creating a potential tinderbox for political unrest. And today’s New York Times reports on a growing class of Chinese students, who flocked to college on the promise of white-collar prosperity, only to find themselves woefully underemployed, living in crammed, filthy rabbit warrens in Beijing with fellow 20-somethings, and told that their degree means nothing without the “guanxi”–the personal connections that grease the way to a good job. (hmm, sounds familiar.)

The dashed dreams, the slow awakening that too many were sold a bill of goods, coupled with their vast numbers worldwide (including in the US) makes me wonder if we’re not on the precipice of a global youth uprising. In China alone, the number of 20-25 year-olds is 123 million, about 17 million more than four years ago, according to the Times article. They may be optimistic and ready to take on the world at age 22, but a few years of just scraping by working six days a week, and doubts and questions begin to take shape. Give a voice to that doubt, and who knows.

The world’s developed economies have seen the highest annual increase in youth unemployment since record-keeping began in 1991, according to a recent ILO report, Global Employment Trends for Youth, August 2010. In 2009, 13% of worldwide youth were unemployed. The rate was even higher (17.7%) in developed countries. This instability, the bleak prospects are in part a reason for the rise of Islamic fundamentalism as well as the enduring Palestinian uprising. Youth in these nations, locked out of good jobs owing to high unemployment, favoritism, and a ruling class of elites, find a home in radical arms.

Reading the article on China, I couldn’t help but think of the parallels here and elsewhere among 20-somethings, given the current recession, the high cost of college, and the prospect of underemployment as the value of a BA sinks with a glut of college grads.

In the US, according to a recent report by the government, “College graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in 2008 borrowed 50% more (in inflation-adjusted dollars) than their counterparts who graduated in 1996, while graduates who earned an associate’s degree or undergraduate certificate in 2008 borrowed more than twice what their counterparts in 1996 had borrowed.” The quote is from a new analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project.

So far, on average, that debt is still manageable. The average debt for college grad from a four-year school is $22,000. That’s the price of new car. Not bad, considering the long-term payoff to a BA today. But –the value of that BA is sinking as more flock to college, creating a glut of college grads just when the economy grinds to a halt. There’s a lot of underemployed, or unemployed, young people out there.

While $22,000 might be manageable and a good investment in the long, run, it sure feels like a burden right now. (And don’t even get me started on how many drop out of college before getting the degree. Not that’s an expensive “lesson”). That sense of burden, of an unrelenting drag on their futures is enough for many to begin asking, where’s my piece of the pie? Disillusionment coupled with debt coupled with the ability to rally millions with a tweet is enough to make one wonder just how long it will be before we hear the rumblings of another youth movement.

If you think it couldn’t happen here, here’s a statistic that might change your mind. Three in ten young men in the US with just a high school degree have dropped out of the labor force altogether. They are not simply unemployed momentarily. They have given up on the workforce altogether. That’s a lot of idle young men.

In China, officials are beginning to tell kids to dial down their aspirations. Be more practical. If all your only option is a third-rate university, shift from a finance or computer programming degree to nursing or teaching. The officials, according to the Times, are indeed worried about the potential for unrest when millions of disillusioned 20-somethings begin to vent.

We should be worried, too. We should take this potential flash-mob seriously by developing some policies and programs that support young adults just starting out. We need clearer paths to middle-skill jobs. We need tuition reform–perhaps tied to graduation rates. We need employers to step up and offer on-the-job training and career ladders. We need rent control for young people. We need college debt payback to begin only when graduates start earning $30,000 or more (or some formula tied to their field and the cost of their degree). We need more loan forgiveness for going into lower-paid but valuable service jobs. These are just some of the options we should consider.

When back in the 1960s we discovered that too many elderly were living out their lives in dire poverty, we did something about it. We created Medicare and revamped Social Security to ensure just that, security in old age. Those programs have kept countless elderly in their homes with food on the table. They are good programs, worthy programs, despite their costs. Yet we ignore the other end of the age spectrum–conceivably the most important decade of a young person’s future life: the decade when they get their first real job, when they finish their education, when they marry and start families.  We don’t want to coddle them by giving them too many breaks, apparently. (At least that’s the message I hear constantly whenever I blather on about this topic). Instead, we want 20-somethings to venture out, learn some hard lessons, and eventually “make it.”–mainly because that’s what we had to do.  Yet few of us came of age with 10% unemployment (that’s the rate for young workers), with a college debt to pay back, or a highly competitive,  much less predictable, much more unstable job force, even before the recession.

I think it’s time we had this conversation, before we wake up in the near future to a revolt in the streets.

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GenY’s blueprint for the future

Posted on December 9, 2010 | 2 Comments

If anyone still thinks this Millennial generation is, as the media so often puts it, a bunch of spoiled slackers, there’s “Think 2040″ standing a clear rebuke.

Think 2040 is the vision that this generation has for the future. Organized by Roosevelt’s Campus Network–the nation’s largest student policy organization–more than 2,000 young people have created a shared vision for 2040, as outlined in “A Blueprint for the Millennial America.”

Coming together in focus groups over the course of several months, Think 2040 participants mapped out their key concerns for the future and what to do about it. The resulting blueprint reflects this generation’s deeply held concern for equity, respect for individuals, belief in community empowerment and self-determination.

High on their list is for the United States to continue to be a moral beacon for  the world. This requires the US to fight global warming and work for greater social equity on many levels.

Starting at home, they want to reform the social safety net to a trampoline. They want to create a system that gives displaced workers the tools to bounce back after layoffs and retrenchment by lowering barriers to entrepreneurship, combatting intergenerational poverty, and rethinking our tax policies.

Reflecting their status as the most diverse generation, they want to rethink immigration policy to better retain the most talented students from abroad and efficiently funnel them to the top jobs. They also want to reframe the conversation we have about immigration to a more positive one, which reflects the many benefits that immigrants bring to these shores–and in doing so, bind us together rather than creating a second-class citizen tier.

They also want to ensure more equity by reducing the influence of money in politics.They want to give labor a larger voice, and they want to restore the vote to the disenfranchised, including felons. They also want to reduce the gap in educational outcomes between groups and make college more affordable.

Not surprising, given the state of the economy today, this generation is worried for their futures. They call for reforms that can reduce federal and household debt. A first start is reducing health care costs by focusing more on prevention–with, for example, programs to prevent obesity and diabetes. They also want to raise taxes on the wealthiest and reduce the cost of entitlement programs by restructuring the safety net.

Still reeling from the banking meltdown–a generational “where were you when Kennedy was assassinated” moment if there ever was one–they want banking reform. They want to limit bank size, regulate shadow banking industry, reform executive pay, and reform bankruptcy laws.

They also want to rebuild the country’s infrastructure in a more “green” and sustainable way and to support and expand the information-based economy.

To accomplish these goals, Millennials begin locally. This is not a generation waving the “let’s change the world” banner. They do not tilt at windmills. This generation is pragmatic, and they believe firmly in “acting locally.” This bottom-up philosophy, they believe, is how we spur America back to prosperity.

As the report says, “We are your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors, your co-workers, and your best bet at overcoming the 21st century challenges that we face with a comprehensive vision we can get behind, support, implement, and achieve.”

I for one am already inspired.

Phase 2 starts soon, with concrete action plans. If young adults want to get involved, there’s still time. Just visit www.think2040.org to join the conversation.

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Youth vote down; angry campaign a turn-off

Posted on November 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yesterday over at Psychology Today, where I’m blogging as well, I went out on the limb and predicted voter turnout would be 23% for those under 30. I was close: it was 20% according to a press conference this morning with Rock the Vote, CIRCLE, and the League of Young Voters. Early estimates put voter turnout among all eligible voters at 41.2%.

Rather disappointing coming off the high of the Obama election, where the “youth quake” dominated the news and helped put Obama in office. But then again, mid-term elections never really muster the turnout of the schnazzy presidential elections. That said, young voter turnout (under age 30) was down 6 percentage points from the 2006 midterms.

The folks at the press conference were not yet certain why the turnout was lower, but they did hazard a few well-informed guesses. The first was that the Democratic Party didn’t create messages that targeted young people specifically. As Biko Baker, executive director of the League of Young Voters put it, “If the parties want young voters, they have to get engaged more than four weeks before the election.” Candidates, he says, need to speak directly to young voters. “Had they invested in them, we might have seen a different outcome.”

Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote, also noted that the campaign rhetoric was a turn-off. “ You don’t’ see a lack of concern among young people about their futures or their issues, such as education, climate changes, and jobs. They are engaged in youth organizations and their own communities. They are seeking leadership. But this electoral season turned them off. They anger and bickering created a conversation that felt quite childish to them.”

But as a reporter from the Washington Post noted, older voters were turned off by the ads as well, but they still went out and voted. Getting inside young voters heads and figuring out what rallies them would do the parties well, I suspect.

Smith, from Rock the Vote, hinted at another possibility for the low turnout: anger doesn’t rally this generation as much as in the past.

“83% of young adults still believe they can make change in this country as a generation,” she said. “They’re optimistic, even while hurting, whereas older voters are really quite angry.” In other words, themes like “hope” may resonate more with this generation than “throw the bums out.”

Here’s some more interesting tidbits:

  • 56% of voters under age 30 voted for Democrats in House elections; 40% went with Republicans.
  • Turnout was highest in states with the most competitive races; overall “red” states had higher youth turnout.
  • 18-24-year-old voters had a 19 point margin in voting favoring Democrats over older voters.
  • Young voters (under 30) were 20 points less likely to support the Tea Party.

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Election 2010: Was Obama a fad for Millennials?

Posted on November 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Millennials continue to be among the strongest backers of Democratic candidates this fall, according to new Pew research. However, young voters have not tuned in to today’s election as often or as deeply as their elders. An article in Monday’s New York Times attributes this to feeling that Obama hasn’t paid enough attention to them. Given they were key to his election, the perceived cold shoulder stings.

More likely, says Jessica Kirsner, 21, a politically active college student interviewed by the Times, “It’s not the fad [anymore] to be politically knowledgeable and active.”

Hmm, perhaps that’s one definition of “adulthood.” You have to follow boring things like politics for reasons other than because it’s hip. But hey, I can’t get too down on Millennials when I know way too many people who never vote or follow politics, and they’re all over 30.

That said, it is a little dispiriting that only three in ten under-30 registered voters have given this election “a lot” of thought. That’s registered votes–the ones who are already fairly committed. And it’s their future on the line.  In contrast, for those over age 30, half have given the election a lot of thought.

There’s other signs of disconnection as well. While three-quarters of those over 30 say they plan to vote, only 45% of registered votes under 30 say they will vote today. Back in 2006, the gap between younger and older would-be voters was about 10 percentage points smaller.

And more bad news for Dems: By party line, Democratic youth are less likely to have given this election much thought than have their Republican counterparts. Given that more young adults are Democrats, this can hurt. In polling conducted in 2010, 56% of Millennials identify as or lean Democratic; 36% identify as or lean Republican.

This is a midterm election, of course, when a lot of people check out. And the political “discourse” has been a tad off-putting. Ok–crazy. It was encouraging to see the thousands of mostly young people on the Washington Mall this weekend for Jon Stewart’s rally to restore sanity (and/or fear). The rally was a sometimes goofy, sometimes touching display of the energy and good will that we can muster when we come together. And Stewart’s message about the media and their fear-mongering tendencies were right on target. I loved his analogy of how despite what the cable shows lead us to believe, we regular Americans manage every day to merge four lanes of city traffic into two. We know the rules: you go then I go, you go then I go. That’s “civil society” in a nutshell. Oh sure there’s always a jerk who rides up on the right until the last minute and weasels his way into the line (in grade school, a move like that would get branded with that shameful tag, “budger,” squealed with such disdain the cheat would never do it again.) But, despite the occasional budger, we all agree that we have to work together on the daily big stuff or life as we know it will grind to a halt. And we do put our heads down and get to work in big and small ways day in and day out.

With the clowns we call politicians doing their best to alienate each and every one of us, it takes all our mettle to get out there and vote, noses plugged in the process. I just hope the younger generation realizes the importance of their voice, even when they feel they’re not heard.

Of course it could be that the Times article was once again myopic in its interviews–after all, a couple of college kids in Miami does not a trend make. In fact, a larger poll found that while Congress may not be able to rely as fully on young voters, Obama might rest easier–despite the passing fad.  Although his approval ratings have fallen below 50% among Americans, young voters are still most likely to approve of his presidency. That said, their disappointment remains palpable. Their approval started the highest and has fallen the farthest among any age group.

Pew Research Center, based on registered voters

But in the end, it’s the voting booth that talks. Today will tell.

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Status update on young adults and recession

Posted on October 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

Spoiler alert: Pop some prozac. This post will be a downer.

Unemployment is hanging tough at 14.8% for those age 20-24. It’s 10% for those 25-34. No wonder nearly half of young adults aged 18-24 were living with their parents in 2009. (Unemployment, of course, is not the only reason. In fact, there’s been a 50% increase since 1970 in living at home even for the older group, age 25-34. In a word: changing “norms.”) But I digress.

The real news today is the job market and its lingering effect on the ability of this generation to grab the horns of adulthood, and ultimately, achieve that quintessential goal of us all, to live the American Dream: a house in the burbs, kids in good schools, a good job that pays enough to take a vacation every year, splurge now and then, and bank enough for a secure retirement.  In other words, a standard of living equal to –and preferably better than–their parents’.

But is the American Dream at risk for a generation? Seven in ten adults surveyed recently said that young people starting in their career today will not have as much success as they did. Six in ten think they won’t  see better standard of living.  Ask Millennials themselves, and half believe they will not recover in their careers.

They’re probably right. Young adults (particularly men and women with just a HS degree) have been living through about four decades of stagnant or declining wages. In 1970, male high school graduates earned about 64 cents for every dollar earned by the male college graduates. By 2008, this had fallen to 42 cents. (and we talk about the gender gap!)

While the decline in wages is disturbing, even more alarming is the fact that large numbers of these young men are throwing in the towel and dropping out of the workforce entirely. In 2008, even before the recession sunk in, only 70% of young men age 25-34 with just a high school degree or less were working when the survey team visited. That’s a lot of idle young men in their prime working years. And lest you think this group with just a high school degree is a small one, it’s not. Fully 60% of the US workforce has a high school degree or less. Shocking, huh? As I’ve said before, a lot of young people aspire to college, even enroll. But far too many drop out and never get a degree of any kind.

University of Michigan economist Sheldon Danziger calls the number of men who have thrown in the towel and aren’t working,  “the most troubling trend of the last 40 years.” Harry Holzer, a Georgetown labor economist, testified before Congress in May, also about the alarming figures. It’s not only that they’re not working, but should they keep trying to return to the workforce, they’re going to find it hard to do.  As Holzer told Congress, long-term unemployment erodes workers’ skills, especially if their jobs had been permanently eliminated and they need to shift to new sectors.

Check this chart out, put together for me by Sheldon Danziger and his grad students in economics at University of Michigan.

These less-educated workers are scarred by a recession, but the pain has been coming on strong for a while. The recession was the final nail in the coffin for many.

As a nation, we’re feeling adrift, paddling alone today as the twin effects of a staggering recession and a long-term shift toward a “do-it-yourself” workforce join together like strands of DNA. Our  youngest workers, just getting started in their careers, are suffering as they work more for less. They’re fighting a tight labor market with older workers staying put longer, which makes it even harder to get a foot in the door. It’s very easy to get discouraged when everyone says you need experience to land the job, and the experience you’re up against is a worker with 15 or 20 years under their belt. Many young people are turning reluctantly to part-time work, which pays even less and offers few, if any, benefits. During the recession, young adults were the most likely to be working part-time involuntarily among all age groups.

Whatever burst of optimism we might have felt last spring is dashed, according to the latest Heartland Monitor Poll. We know now just how long this slog will be. Consumer confidence is where it was in the winter of 1975, when oil prices were shocking us for the first time. Jobs are going to be scarce for a while. Cash and loans are going to be hard to come by. Credit cards are being cut off. How are young people going to get started in life? There’s going to be a big group of people who will remain on the sidelines for a long time to come. In the end, all this is a recipe for sustained political volatility (“volatility” is probably the understatement of the year given the hi-jinks going on out there on the political front).

So in the immortal words of Bette Davis, fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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Rock the Vote poll shows young adults are not wed to Obama

Posted on September 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

A new poll by Rock the Vote of 1,000 18-29 year olds shows young adults engaged, but more cynical than two years ago. The top issues they want Congress to focus on are jobs and the economy, improving education and lowering its cost, and lowering the deficit and improving health care. Here’s a rundown of some key findings. The margin of error is 3.5%.

More young people are moderates and Democrats

  • Political persuasion: 41% are Democrats, 33% are Republicans, and 26% are Independents
  • Ideology: 24% identify as liberal, 39% as moderate, 29% as conservative.

The “ideology” stats line up with Neil Howe’s findings that this generation of Millennials are staunchly conventional. Three-fourths are either moderates or conservatives in the above poll.

Many (40%) believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, but there are sharp distinctions by race.

  • Only 30% of whites believe we’re headed in the right direction, but 63% of blacks and 51% of Hispanics believe we’re on a good course.
  • Those with less education were more likely to say country is headed in wrong direction.

The differences by race line up with the latest findings of the Heartland Monitor Poll, which finds that blacks and Hispanics are much more satisfied with Obama’s performance and are more optimistic about the future. A recent study on happiness finds that black-white gap in happiness is narrowing, because of gains among blacks.

The idealism of the 2008 campaign is wearing thin.

  • 37% disapprove of what Obama has done during his first two years in office.
  • About 60% say they are more cynical about politics than they were two years ago.

Young adults are still largely optimistic about their own futures.

  • 68% of whites, 82% of blacks, and 81% of Hispanics think they will be better off financially than their parents. (There were no sizable differences in this outlook by education, but more Democrats than Republicans or Independents are so assured.)
  • About 80% of young adults still believe they have the power to change the country.

The racial differences are quite striking, as is the fact that there are few sizable differences by education, which is usually the case. I don’t know what to make of the findings, other that to wonder whether the white middle class is really pinched and hurting. However, the black and Hispanic middle class should be equally pinched, yet they’re more optimistic toward the future and their potential earnings. Interesting…

I’m also encouraged by their belief in collective power. That they believe as a generation they can change the world is a refreshing shift from the deeply cynical views of their older GenX siblings (who had a point, I might add).

But there’s signs of cracks in that optimism.

  • 77% are concerned they won’t find a job that pays enough to be comfortable
  • About 80% worry they won’t be able to save enough for a house or for retirement (this worry heightens with age).
  • 70% are concerned they won’t find a job they enjoy.
  • 42% worry they will have to move back home with their parents. Even 38% of college graduates worry about this. (Higher shares of blacks and Hispanics worry about this.)

Given that about 6 in 10 think they’ll be better off than their parents (above), these numbers are puzzling. Maybe it’s immediate hurt versus long-range hope.

A ranking of their biggest concerns looks like this:

  • jobs and economy: 54% rank it first or second on the list of concerns
  • quality of education and its costs: 29%
  • the high federal deficit: 23%
  • health care: 23%
  • immigration: 14%
  • Afghanistan: 11%
  • gays rights/abortion rights: 11%
  • environmental concerns/global warming: 10%

For this generation, the most important education policy is improving elementary and high school education (44%). Next on the list is college affordability (38%). (Interesting that a larger share are more concerned with better education at the lower ends than the cost. You’d never guess that from the media stories.)

The most important energy policy is reducing our dependence on foreign oil (45%) followed by investing in new technology jobs (40%). 15% rank climate change as their biggest energy concern.

The most important economic policy is job creation (32%) followed closely by the high national debt (31%). More affordable job training and post-secondary education ranked third (23%), and 14% put cutting taxes at the top of their list for economic policies. (They’ve been listening to their parents complain about the budget and high taxes, I’m betting.)

All in all, some interesting findings that politicians could do well by heeding. This generation is much more committed to the voting booth than their older siblings. And they have good reason to go to the polls: they’re the army grunts of this recession: first killed on the battlefront of layoffs and firings.

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“Shift” is a new site on young urban adults and the new America

Posted on August 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

I like this… a site by News 21 and Medill School of Journalism on life as a 20-something in the city.

Through quick posts and clips, it taps into a variety of issues this generation grapples with–in their own voice.

Other projects News 21 produces include “The New Voters: Identity & U.S. Politics” and “The Young & the Wireless: Net Gen Rising”

Thanks to Alan Reifman at the Emerging Adulthood blog for the info.

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The latest generation is more comfortable with the uncivil nature of politics

Posted on July 29, 2010 | Leave a comment

According to a recent survey by researchers at CIRCLE, young adults (age 18-29) are less likely to believe that civility in politics and public debate is possible than older adults. They are also less ashamed about recent incivility, but more supportive of compromise.

Not surprising I guess, given the highly uncivil political climate they’ve grown up in. The rise of vitriolic blogging and mad-hatter radio and television programs have only made things worse. Balkanization, name-calling, political sniveling and sanctimony, not to mention hypocrisy, stonewalling, and behavior more often found in a kindergarten classroom, and we’ve got American politics today. (I suspect actually that kindergarten students are more mature than our politicians)

It’s also not surprising, given the volume in today’s “discourse,” that those in their 20s are least likely to view interrupting and shouting over someone as uncivil, according to the report (Youth Attitudes toward Civility [pdf],  by Melissa Kovacs and Daniel Shea). Sixty-five percent of 18-29 year olds believe shouting over someone is uncivil versus 85% of their parents (aged 50-64).  Let’s hope it doesn’t go any lower with the next generation, or I’m buying ear plugs.

This one scares me more: Younger adults are also least likely to view manipulating facts to persuade others as uncivil.

In this era of online “sampling” and evolving copyright norms coupled with Swiftboatian political tactics, I guess it’s not surprising that “manipulating facts” is less loathsome to the younger generation. But still. We just saw how quickly a clever video editor can bring down a perfectly competent civil servant, and how the blistering speed of our news cycle is now making everyone way too quick to go on the defensive. The Obama administration in this case responded to the altered Sherrod video clip by firing her pronto, in part because they felt they had to respond before the clip aired on that afternoon’s (evening?) Glenn Beck show.  Never mind that the clip was manipulated to skew a point. No one had time to check that, apparently. The instantaneous nature of news today coupled with the level of vitriol and “gotcha” politics was the perfect recipe for this kind of disaster.

Manipulating information to make a point goes on all the time, of course. We are all selective in the facts we cite or the way we tell a story. But the boundaries of that selectivity is getting loosier and goosier. It’s come to the point where we have Fox News telling their side of the story and skimming over details that don’t fit their angle, and we have the New York Times succumbing to the times and filling their pages with more “analysis” than news. The slippage is leaving us all with fewer and fewer sources to trust for dependably objective information. And we’re poorer for it.

Here’s another finding from the survey that exposes a generation gap: Young adults are more likely to see acts such as sit-ins or protests as uncivil. About 35% of young adult see these acts as uncivil versus 20% of their parents. So the hippie/ Boomers’ kids see protests and sit-ins as uncivil. How rich is that? :)

I, too, found that in our interviews with young people. Paradoxically, given the above findings on shouting, the young people we interviewed found protests and rallies too confrontational and too extreme. People standing up with a bullhorn, claiming that the world is going to end if you don’t do X or Y is way too simplistic and one-sided for this generation to buy into. They’re pretty savvy in seeing right through marketing after all. It also turns out that this generation is rather conventional in many aspects of life, and aren’t prone to extremes. They prefer that politicians and others work toward compromises, not polarization. Sensible, huh?

The Millennials’ politics are full of interesting angles and tidbits. I’ll hit on some of them in the next post. For now, I have to get my hair cut. This humidity is pushing up my already helmet-head hair to new heights. Literally.

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