young people

A great new video that the Illinois Caucus on Adolescent Health youth activists created about how young people need accurate access to information about sex and health to protect themselves.

On last night's Colbert Report columnist David Frum called for an economically inclusive, environmentally responsible and socially modern Republican party. He called out Tea Party activists saying

Frum: "If we could arrange it so that in 2012 only 40% of the American people came out to vote and only a quarter of them were over the age of 65 ..."

Colbert: "Republicans are working on it!"

Frum: "Ok... then the Tea Party idea might work. That's the thing that went wrong in 2010... This is a country of young people. This is a country that is full of people who are worried more about unemployment than about protecting their personal Medicare..." (it continues in the video below)

Frum isn't the only one who noticed that the Tea Party message and the conservative policies of today's GOP doesn't resonate with young voters. Data has shown that Millennials place more trust in the government than older demographics and certainly have less faith in the trust of corporations and the so-called "free market." It's no wonder the Republican Party is having such a hard time bringing in more young people...

Our friends at OUR TIME brought light to an interesting story on their Tumblr this week after the Journal of Pediatrics released data showing that at least 1 in 3 people has been arrested by the age of 23 years old.

According to OUR TIME's post

• By age 23, up to 41% of American adolescents and young adults have been arrested at least once. After an arrest, young people at a higher risk for future criminal activity.
• The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, and almost 25% of the worlds prisoners.
• The U.S. Congress recently told judges that prison is mainly for punishment, not rehabilitation.
• Cost of keeping a person in prison is approx $30K per year. Public HS Education costs approx $10K per year.

Co-Founder and head of OUR TIME Matthew Segal appeared on MSNBC's Dylan Ratagin last night to shed greater light on the troubling state of young Americans behind bars.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Do you have health care? Have you been able to stay on your parents' health insurance longer? If you say yes then you're one of the 17 million American youth that could lose that if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act, according to a legal brief filed on Thursday.

According to The Hill

"Some 20 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 currently don't have insurance, the group argues. When the full benefits of the law kick in in 2014, about 8 million young adults will qualify for Medicaid and another 9 million will become eligible for federal subsidies to buy private insurance on new state health insurance exchanges.

The group's amicus brief argues that the requirement that everyone have insurance — the crux of the legal challenges against the law — "does not impose a significant burden on young adults."

"On the other hand," the brief argues, "eliminating this and other pillars of the [healthcare reform law] would undermine the regulatory scheme and harm the health and
economic well-being of millions of young Americans by denying them access to affordable"

Court cases against the law have been going back and forth in district courts for the better part of the last year and now the Supremes have said they will decide the fate. It's on the docket for March 26, 27 and 28 and The Hill says "a decision is expected in June, before the 2012 presidential election." Given the Supreme Court's affinity to corporations and the fact that the health care industry and insurance companies are behind the law, you'd think they'd support it, right?

Last week the Harvard Institute of Politics (PDF) announced that only 1/3 of young voters are following the OWS movement and that less (21 percent) align themselves with the beliefs and attitudes of the protesters and 44 percent aren't sure.

"One-third (33%) not supportive and 46% either unsure or refused to answer."

What seems to have gotten a little lost in the idea that 2/3 of young people aren't paying attention to the OWS movement - is the way the question was worded is "How closely have you been following Occupy Wall Street" and 2/3 of 18-29 year olds said "not closely" where as 1/3 said "not at all." Which means that the reality is that 2/3 are actually following it - just 1/3 of them aren't following it that closely.

This is interesting given the latest Pew survey that shows two-thirds of Americans believe there are "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between the wealthy and the poor. That number is up 19 percent from 2010.

According to Slate

"While the Occupy movement dominated headlines in recent months, a wealth of reporting and data on the issue of economic inequality also brought the topic front and center for many Americans. The AP explains: "In recent weeks, a slew of recent census data have illustrated a widening divide, including the share of overall U.S. wealth held by the top 10 percent of the population that increased from 49 percent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009."

So it looks like we're not alone after all.

Via the White House

Today, the White House announced Summer Jobs+, a new call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The President proposed $1.5 billion for high-impact summer jobs and year-round employment for low-income youth ages 16-24 in the American Jobs Act as part of the Pathways Back to Work fund. When Congress failed to act, the Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships. Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of executive actions the Obama Administration is taking to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can’t wait for Congress to act.

Our generation has been hardest hit by the recession, and its about damn time companies started thinking about the highly educated and eager workforce at their disposal.

This week, leaders in the House and Senate are debating whether to extend the payroll tax cut for workers in 2012. If Congress doesn’t vote in favor of extending the tax cut, employees will begin paying a 6.2 percent tax on their wages in January, up from 4.2 percent this year.

So, what does that mean for young Americans? A lot. 45 million young workers pay payroll taxes, and could get significantly less earnings in their paycheck if the tax break is not extended.

In 2011, Congress temporarily reduced the Social Security payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2%, to get the economy growing again by putting more money in Americans’ pockets. So, if someone made $30,000 in 2010, she paid $1,860 in payroll taxes. But in 2011, with the 2% tax cut, she paid $1,260 in payroll taxes and had an extra $600 to put in the local economy.

Leaders from both parties have said they agree the tax cut should be extended, but remain divided over how to pay for it, and whether to include other policy provisions in a legislative package. To offset the payroll tax cut and not add to the deficit, Senate Democrats are proposing a 3.25% tax on people who earn over $1 million. On the other hand, Congressional Republicans want to offset the tax cut with reduced spending elsewhere, and have included controversial provisions like requiring the President to move forward with an oil pipeline.

Votes are expected this week as Congress negotiates the 2012 budget, and much is at stake for young workers. If the extension doesn’t pass, 45 million working Americans under 30 would see their payroll taxes go up in 2012.

To find out more on the payroll tax cut, click here.

Well, another day, and another unknown guy lamenting the horrible things happening to our generation and our supposed complicit behavior.

This rando, some Gen Xer named Rob Long, writes that young people are being ripped off thanks to a "a vast, Madoff-like Ponzi scheme," in which payroll taxes are immediately shuffled off to help seniors pay their medical bills. He can't believe that young people are letting this go and are not more alarmed, Glenn Beck style.

And yet: no protests in the streets. No marches. No student sit-ins. No youth agitation at all, really, except for a couple of College Republicans in blue blazers. What? Are they stupid? After all of that college tuition? Are young people in their 20's just dumb?

I appreciate your phony concern, Rob. But if you're truly advocating for a strong quality of life for Millennials, you'd come to terms with what must be a painful truth for you. Your party, while railing against imaginary deficits in the future, blatantly ignores the fact that many of us are struggling to make end's meet today. One of your party's governors, in the name of fiscal responsibility, cut $30 million from childcare centers. And "after all that college tuition," the Republican House proposes to balance the budget by taking Pell Grants, and therefore the prospects of higher education, away from us at the worst possible time. This is at the same time that we're being crushed by trillions of dollars worth of student loans. Fellow FM writer Karlo Marcelo used a great analogy to frame this reality back when we were debating the stimulus.

Millennials will face new challenges when caring for the Baby Boomer generation as they near towards retirement. What they don't need are unnecessary financial burdens that make it difficult for them to succeed early on in their adult lives. Young people are already saddled with a "burden", and the GOP needs to recognize and respect that reality.

Imagine for a moment that you are trying to traverse a hill. The hill represents how much taxes you expect to pay over your lifetime. One end of the hill is the start (the beginning of your life), the top of the hill is middle-age, and the other end of the hill is, well, six-feet-under. At both ends of the hill, you pay relatively little in taxes, and the top of the hill is when you pay the most in taxes. This is what tax-paying looks like throughout the course of one's life. For some generations, traversing this hill was made easier (but not faster), because the government helped invest in the well-being of the tax-payer very early on in life.

This is not the case with Millennials. The rising cost (PDF) of college and beyond has not resulted in a proportionate increase in services or resources. When you place this fact of rising costs into the context of rising college attendance, the effect is magnified. The share of young people that have attended college has increased 21 percentage points from the 1970s to the present (PDF, pg. 5). What's more is the fact young people with post-graduate degrees on are on the rise, too. What all this amounts to is a more difficult (but not slower) journey over the hill. It's almost as if Millennials have to carry a heavy backpack (read: student debt) and still keep pace with everyone else. Now add to that the fact that the end of the hill for Millennials is much farther away than it is for previous generations due to longer life expectancy.

So, if you're seriously concerned about our collective future, do us a favor: get off your high horse and hop on a time machine back to now and start working on these problems.

Mr. Long, you're not done. Please sit back down. Let me explain another thing. And I'll go slowly, because this might be hard for you to understand:

Millennials. Like. Government.

Seriously, we do. You can see that here, here, here, or even here. According to NDN, a Washington think tank, 58% of Millennials actually favor larger government, as opposed to one that “stays out of society and the economy.” It might be surprising since we've been let down by government so often (especially from 2001-2006 when the GOP ruled Washington), but it's the truth.

And we do protest. Your fellow unknown Ted Nugent also made the mistake of assuming young people don't get mad and act on it, and we provided these examples (these just being a few that one simple Google search turned up):

Students across USA protest over college funding, tuition
March 4, 2010

Dickinson College students protest school's handling of sex assaults
March 3, 2011

Cerritos College students protest proposed summer cuts
May 18, 2011

Half-naked college students protest coal
April 15, 2011

‘Students are not ATMs'; college students protest budget cuts
March 15, 2011

College students, staff protest budget cuts
April 13, 2011

College students protest higher fees
January 12, 2010

Three Arrested at Hunter College Protest
March 4, 2010

College students protest death penalty
March 27, 2010

College students protest PA budget cuts
March 30, 2011

'Ramen' protest highlights community college fee increases
March 2, 2011

California college students protest higher ed budget cuts
April 13, 2011

High school, college students to protest state education cuts
March 19, 2011

PSU students, State College mayor protest funding cuts
April 5, 2011

College students protest HOPE cuts outside State Capitol
March 2, 2011

Vt. college students protest planned cuts
March 16, 2011

Phoenix high school, college students organize Capitol protest
March 4, 2011

Michigan College Students Protest Higher Ed Cuts
March 24, 2011

College Students Protest Voter ID Bill
April 4, 2011

Allegheny College students protest education cuts
March 18, 2011

College students protest strip mine plans
September 14, 2010

Carthage College students protest anti-gay speaker
February 24, 2010

College students protest HB 176
February 24, 2011

Emory protesters arrested during student protest
April 26, 2011

TUSD on image control after student protest cancels meeting
April 27, 2011

Supporters rally for students arrested at SB 1070 protest
November 16, 2010

Thousands of students flock to Capitol to protest SB1070
April 22, 2010

Wisconsin Students Protest Governor's Attack on Unions
February 15, 2011

Zombie protesters lurch for voter, student rights
June 8, 2011

Based on the list above and the little we do know of you, it would appear you're merely grumpy because we don't protest the same things that your Tea Party friends do.

Do us a favor and can the fake outrage. If you're genuine, you'd be doing what you could to keep conservatives from defunding our collective future so that fat cats can keep flying their corporate jets.

• Starting off with some health news... One study recently found that many young people with Type 2 diabetes have impaired cardiovascular function due to stiffened arteries.
• Kurt Metzger's "Talk to Young People about Sex" album will be released on Comedy Central on June 28th
• We need to see more of this: An Iowa City city council candidate is running to give young adults a voice.
• Call it the scone rush? For struggling young people, one cafe in the Chicago area intentionally creates opportunities for recently imprisoned youth to get back on their feet.
• Obama again reaching out to youth through youth roundtables.
• New York's state financial aid agency offers college students advice on how to strengthen their financial fitness following college.
• The San Francisco Chronicle offers its own advice.
• But before you graduate from college, you need to succeed there. Here are some tips for first year students in your first year.
• Entrepreneurship 101: A guide for new college grads looking to fly solo
• Grants that help youth be their own bosses? Interesting.
• The trials and tribulations of the intern and other tales of unpaid labor
• The for-profit price of student loans (and it's not stormtroopers on a collection mission. At least in this story).

Some interesting reads for you as we prepare to move into another week.

• With all the economic strife Millennials are experiencing these days, perhaps we need a National Youth Administration to help dig our way out?
• Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile outlines the extent to which Republicans plan to suppress votes in future elections.
• NPR explores how young people can improve their financial literacy; this article is one of a series of articles on the topic.
• Did you know? The largest number of American hate groups are located in Idaho and Mississippi.
• A Huffington Post piece discusses the importance of young people starting businesses and how we can enhance youth entrepreneurship in the future.
• Montana college students will be hit with a 10 percent tuition increase over two years. Why? State budget cuts.
• Allowing concealed guns on college campuses appeared to be sure to pass in Texas. However, some Democratic tactics appear to have dealt the bill a fatal blow.