economy

When I first saw the headline “Will Millennials become the chump generation?” I was gearing up for another intergenerational throw down. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were being accused of this time, but last time I checked with Fred Durst, being called a chump was not a good thing. After reading Robert Samuelson’s column in the Washington Post, I realized that it was a more of a warning than a criticism. Samuelson discusses the recent Pew research on Millennials which shows that our generation is taking the effects of the recession hardest of all. Thirty-seven percent of Americans 18-29 are out of work, and proportionally more Millennials have lost jobs during the crisis than those over the age of 30.

Says Samuelson: “The adverse effects could linger. An oft-quoted study by Yale University economist Lisa Kahn found that college graduates entering a labor market with high unemployment receive lower pay and that the pay penalty can last two decades.…As baby boomers retire, higher federal spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may boost Millennials' taxes and squeeze other government programs. It will be harder to start and raise families. Millennials could become the chump generation. They could suffer for their elders' economic sins, particularly the failure to confront the predictable costs of baby boomers' retirement. “

Having repeatedly heard the suggestion that Millennials might be the next great generation, I’m much less excited about this new potential tag line. Millennials: The Chump Generation is not a phrase I want to see inscribed on anything. While we may be saddled with some unfortunate economic circumstances, both now and in the future, I hope that we can do something more than sit back and watch it happen.

The traits of our generation may give us an advantage in facing these economic challenges. We are a tech-savvy, collaborative, upbeat, pragmatic and innovative generation, so, with the right resources, we should be able to dodge oncoming bullets…especially if some of said bullets are coming from 20 years down the road.

According to Pew, we are bound to be the most highly educated generation in America. I hope this means we should also be the most prepared to face some of these challenges. But education isn’t everything, so what else can we do now to ensure that we don’t end up looking like chumps?

We respect older generations and recognize we can learn a lot from them. Even if they’re not going to balance the national budget, perhaps the generations before us could try to atone for their economic sins by helping to prepare us now for the challenges to come. They could invest in us through career development, helping to make sure we get the opportunities for collaboration, resources and learning experiences that will help us thrive. Or they could provide advice and funds for Millennial start-ups, both in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Since we respect those who have gone before, we would be happy to have Boomer and Gen Xer mentors and partners.

We not only adopt new technology at astonishingly high rates, but we’re helping to shape it. Many of both the most used and most innovative technologies were created by Millennials - Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook, Jack Dorsey's Twitter and Chad Hurley and Steve Chen's YouTube being the most obvious. And others are applying technology and new platforms to bring about social change. There's a great list of our generation's social entrepreneurs started on a previous post, and there are surely more to come.

We are the most diverse generation, respect those who are not like us, and hope this leads to a more just and open society. After use of technology and music/pop culture, Millennials reported that our liberal and tolerant outlook made us distinct as a generation. The Pew study confirms that we are the most open to interracial and same-sex couples, immigrants, and nontraditional family arrangements. Maybe our openness will translate to a willingness to work in nontraditional ways and arrangements to face the coming challenges.

What else can Millennials, and Boomers and Gen Xers for that matter, do to help prepare us to face a potentially shaky economic future?

Guest blogger Maya Enista is Chief Executive Officer of Mobilize.org, an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering and energizing young people to increase civic engagement and political participation.

The current economic state for young Americans, and all Americans, is a frightening one. It tells the story of growing national debt; increasing personal debt; many instances of irresponsible spending and lending practices on college campuses and in low-income communities; inadequate health care coverage; and rapidly disappearing safety nets for our generation. These factors, coupled with the fact that we are living in a time of innovation and growth in our country, mandates that we find sustainable and creative ways to solve the problems of our society and ensure that in defining these solutions – we are not bankrupting our futures.

There are many approaches with which one might begin to attack the problems laid out above, but as the Case Foundation believes, most would fail without ensuring that citizens are at the center of solving their own problems. It is this belief, and the support of the Case Foundation, that has enabled us to create the Democracy 2.0 process, where members of the millennial generation work collaboratively to build the democracy that we will inherit.

Given the severity of this national crisis paired with the innovation, collaboration and technological savvy of the millennial generation – it’s imperative that we take immediate and collaborative action to put our economic future on a sustainable and improving path. Mobilize.org has heard this clear call for action from our membership. To respond to the growing concern among all generations, Mobilize.org and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation are hosting a millennial convening to explore the barriers preventing our generation from achieving financial health. It will take place November 18th – 20th in and it will be titled, Exploring the Millennial Generation’s ROI where we will bring together 150 millennials for discussion, debate and action on this important question.

As loyal Social Citizens readers know, the theory of change of Mobilize.org, entitled Democracy 2.0, prescribes that it’s not enough for millennials to identify their most pressing individual issues, but that the millenials must take the lead and work collaboratively to propose solutions to these issues and then obtain the resources needed to implement and institutionalize those solutions. To that end, Mobilize.org anticipates that it will award grants up to $25,000 for selected projects and proposals that rise to the top during our time together, through the use of interactive keypad voting technology. Additionally, funded ideas will become 12-month projects of Mobilize.org, whose partner network and funders are committed to further building their success. Mobilize.org is a millennial built, millennial led organization that understands that the economic well-being of this generation is the key to our success, both today and tomorrow. However, we also know that we cannot do it alone and we see the value in working in true intergenerational partnerships to solve society’s most pressing problems.

To apply to attend the Summit (travel + accommodations are covered by Mobilize.org) or for more information, please visit www.mobilize.org . Our application window is open for just eight more days, and we encourage you to share this announcement with your network of friends and colleagues. Please join us in Chicago for this important conversation, and more importantly – as we seed the action steps that will highlight the leadership, perseverance, innovation and creativity of the Millennial generation.

I don’t know about you, but if I hear the word “economy” one more time, I may scream. As is true of many Millennials, I have no mortgage or investments of which to speak, and the details of the current crisis make my head spin and my stomach hurt. But whether I understand it or not, the reality is, in the long run, this crisis may affect me (as a young person) more than most. So I asked Millennial Michael Davidson to guest blog and talk about what this issue means for our generation, and how we can all be a part of fixing it to ensure economic stability for all our futures. 

Michael P. Davidson  is CEO of Gen Next, an organization that shapes and drives public and action toward overcoming challenges and solving problems for the next generation in the areas of economic growth, education, and international security. Michael was also an expert panelist for the Youth Entitlement Summit, a coalition of young leaders who develop findings and principles on how to eliminate the projected shortfalls in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in ways that are fair to all generations.