Lately, I have noticed there are a lot of articles about Millennials. We seem to be a thoroughly studied group. Here's the definition for those who are unfamiliar with the term:
2millennial
noun
Definition of MILLENNIAL
: a person born in the 1980s or 1990s —usually plural
First Known Use of MILLENNIAL
1991
Earlier this week my Mom and I were explaining what a Millennial is to my Dad. They are both Baby Boomers and she explained it like this "we call them the 'Baby Boomlet' but now they are called 'Millennials'". Either way there is a reason we are so closely studied.
It's in the Math!
And, the economy. You can't research the Great Recession and the slow recovery without noticing that we were effected most by the Great Recession. We are the first generation with large numbers attending college. That also means we have a large amount of student debt. Meanwhile, it's hard to find a job that makes enough to cover the cost of living.
As a result, it's taking longer to pay down those debts. Meaning, we aren't buying houses at the same rate our parents were. This is where we get our third nickname, "Generation Rent". That mentality is dragging down the housing market.
I've said this before but it is big enough to bare repeating:
The cost of living is rising while income remains stagnant. There can't be true economic recovery until income rises to match the cost of living.
That can be seen clearly in all of these Millennial studies. We spent so much on college expecting a decent paying job as a result of the college education. But, those jobs aren't there upon graduation. We were promised a better life for that high cost. Instead, we struggle. We are the generation questioning if college is worth the cost.
We are expected to carry the economy. 50 year olds have houses. We are expected to be the ones buying houses. The National Debt can only get paid once taxpayers pay their taxes. Taxes are based on income. How can they expect to pay down the National Debt when there isn't enough income from taxes to cover the necessities?
The country won't recover until income matches the cost of living. But part of that cost of living is college debt. Millennials delay a lot of future expenses because of the burden of that college debt. By delaying these expenses, it sets the economy back.
What's the solution? Part one, capping what colleges can charge in the first place. Lower college costs means lower debt. Lower debt means paid off sooner. Debt paid off sooner means resources available for other expenses. But colleges aren't going to voluntarily lower costs. They'll only do it if legally obligated to.
Part two, find a new way to create decent paying jobs. The current plan is "keep taxes on the rich low and pray they create jobs". So, Politicians gave rich people the power to control the economy of the entire nation. It's like giving Lex Luthor all of the Kryptonite in existence then trusting him when he says he'll never use any.
Politicians don't seem to like the idea of "raise taxes on the rich to cover our expenses". It seems they would much prefer to take almost every penny Millennials make. Then, like Chris Christie, deny that it's making things worse.
Unfortunately, they don't seem to have a back-up plan for the failed "let the rich create jobs" experiment. Clearly, they aren't doing the math. They haven't calculated how much better off the economy will be once Millennials make enough to pay off their college debt.
Millennial Math:
We are having kids later
We are having fewer kids
We are getting married later
We are buying a house later
We are more likely to lease a car then buy it
We are more likely to decide NOT to have kids
We are more likely to NEVER buy a house
We are more likely to NEVER marry
These are all decisions that effect the economy. Most of us are making these decisions based on our income. We are having fewer kids because we can't afford more. Less kids means less income from income taxes. Less income means less things can get paid for. There is a lot of subtraction there and not enough addition.
There are 11 Millennials in the House of Representatives. There are no Millennials in the Senate. Our Lawmakers are mostly from a generation that doesn't understand us, the Baby Boomers. The generation commissioning all of these studies on Millennials.
There can't be functional economic policies until our leaders understand us and our needs. Without functional economic policies, we can't have a functional economy. Instead of mocking the "Occupy" movement, they should have listened to it, learned from it, and fixed the problem.
It's basic math, Millennial math.
No comments:
Post a Comment