Younger Generation: It’s Time to Invest in Millennials

WASHINGTON Regardless of age, the economic crisis has had an impact on all of our lives. It has touched every family in some way, and its effects continue to be felt across all generations.

However, often neglected in the firestorm of media coverage surrounding bailouts, stress tests, foreclosures, and stimulus packages, is the reality that young people, or millennials, are being disproportionately affected by this crisis, and that this reality will have a lasting negative impact on the entire generation if something is not done by our leaders to invest in young people.

The issues young people face now are as broad and diverse as the generation itself. While millennials are generally well-educated, the near-prohibitive costs of higher education result in an average of $27,000 in student loan debt for the typical millennial post-graduate.

This crippling financial burden, in addition to the disproportionate amount of credit card debt millennials accumulate due to loose regulations, is thrust upon young people at a time when layoffs nationwide are pitting recent graduates against individuals with years of experience for the same entry-level jobs.

This is a dire situation for young people entering the work force and studies have shown that it will negatively affect lifetime earnings for those individuals, and will have a devastating long-term impact on the economy. For example, the unemployment rate for 20-to-24-year-olds was 14.9 percent in September.

Additionally, 30 percent of millennials -- that's nearly a third of the entire generation -- do not have health insurance. This is significantly higher than any other age bracket. Many times the lack of coverage is because of unemployment; but frequently even employed millennials simply cannot afford to pay for health care while simultaneously bearing the burden of student loans, credit card debt, and rising premiums. Many are forced to choose between falling deeper into debt or making their loan payments, leaving no money in the bank to pay for health insurance.

College students are inheriting a catastrophic fiscal crisis even bigger than what we're seeing today. Our long-term economic challenges make it more important than ever that young people be aware of the threats to their future financial security, and that they can access and share the necessary information to bring about change.

The obstacles facing the Millennial Generation are daunting, but not insurmountable. My organization, Mobilize.org, is working every day to ensure that millennials have the tools to make their voices heard in the councils of government, ranging from school boards and county councils to Congress and other policy-making forums.

Research conducted by Mobilize. org and other organizations has found that youth are more ready to engage in civic and political action than they ever have been before. That is why Mobilize.org is finding partnerships with prestigious organizations such as the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to host Democracy 2.0: Exploring the Millennial Generation's ROI, a youth grant summit, Nov. 18-20 in Chicago. This summit will, in association with Lifetuner, bring together more than 150 motivated young people from around the country to present their own innovative solutions to these challenges and showcase original ideas that will have an impact for years to come.

We are all stakeholders in this economy, and an investment in the future of the Millennial Generation will yield tremendous returns. The millenials are the next generation of leaders for this country and should be treated as an invaluable asset. The problems that face our generation are truly societal problems, and all of society will benefit when those problems are solved.

Maya Enista is the CEO of Mobilize.org, an organization based in Washington, D.C., and Berkeley, Calif., dedicated to empowering the Millennial Generation in both civic engagement and policymaking. Contact her at (202) 736-5744.