AFL-CIO: Young People Hit Hard by Recession

Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, has got a great post up on HuffPo. As a national AFL-CIO officer, she's traveled across the country talking to workers and advocating on their behalf. One thing she has found - young people (she specifically mentions those between 18 and 34) are being hit the hardest by the economic downturn. She has some really interesting statistics:

• One in three young workers is worried about being able to find a job--let alone a full-time job with benefits.
• Only 31 percent make enough money to cover their bills and put some aside--that is 22 percentage points worse than it was 10 years ago.
• Nearly half worry about having more debt than they can handle.
• One in three still lives at home with parents.

To me, those are some pretty insane stats. ONE in every THREE young workers still lives at home? Only 31 percent make enough to cover their bills and still save? Wow...The report these statistics are taken from is called Young Workers: A Lost Decade and it's really a good read.

Liz thinks the workers this study covers could very well be the first in recent history to end up worse off than their parents. She says the way things are done now (our health care system, the low-wage workforce, attacks on unions, etc.) is simply not working for young people. She listed five steps she believes need to be taken immediately to improve the situation.

Young people don't trust their employers and believe their job situations could be improved, according to the study. The top three issues they would like Congress and the President to focus on? Creating jobs, ensuring the availability of affordable health care for all, and enhancing public education.

Even though they've been hit hard by the recession, young people are still informed, involved, and for the most part (see the map? on the right? yeah...) progressive. Example: 50% of workers OVER 35 expressed confidence in President Obama's agenda. For those under 35 the number expressing confidence was 62%.

We know the turnout among younger voters was amazing in 2008. We know that they have been more engaged and excited than they have been in years. I think we can carry this momentum forward and I agree wholeheartedly with Liz - "Young people are being hit hard in this jobs crisis. But I believe they provide much of the fuel we need to get out of it."