Living on the (Economic) Edge

In one of his Netroots Nation recaps, Kevin mentioned a new organization called Qvisory, which essentially aims to be the AARP for young people. In conjunction with the research group Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner, Qvisory just released a poll on the economic concerns of young people.

We all know that the economy is the #1 issue for (non-latino) youth. The poll has some good information that fleshes out young voter's economic concerns. Here's the situation in which many young people today find themselves:

Financial concerns top the list of problems facing young adults in their lives today, at 55 percent, an 11-point jump over the past year.

What are those concerns?

Many of these concerns are problems faced by all Americans in this tumbling economy, but debt is a particularly fierce problems for young people:

• Three out of four young people report having gone deeper in debt over the past year.
• More than half of young adults say they are only paying their minimum monthly amount on their credit card.
• Nearly one in five (19%) report having had their phone, cable, or utilities cut off, and more than one in seven (15%) have faced repossession or had their credit card cancelled due to non-payment.
• One in three young people who owe money on a credit card owe more than $10,000 overall.
• 28% of all young adults are carrying medical debt.
• More than half of all young people have gone without health insurance at some point in the past five years – including 75% of those who are now carrying medical debt.

This is not really a surprise - especially since congress has long been on the side of credit card companies - making it easier to obtain credit and harder to get rid of debt and start over. So is it any wonder that:

Only 32% of young people think the leadership in Washington, DC represents their interests well, in contrast to their views about how well corporations (79%), veterans (52%), and seniors (53%) are represented.

Which is, of course, to say that there is a real need for something like Qvisory to help young people manage their finances, and find health care. It also means that we need more people in Congress who will represent young people and promote bills that ensure our economic security, such as Clair McCaskill's bill to make it more difficult for credit card companies to sign up college students who lack a regular income and cannot afford to make payments.

On a side note, what's up with 52% of young people thinking that Congress pays too much attention to veterans? This survey was taken right around the time of the initial fight over the 21st Century GI Bill, so that might account for it. But to my mind, veterans and our troops get a raw deal more than anyone.