A new Congressional report is confirming what we already know — Millennials are not feeling the benefits of the so-called economic recovery.
The Democrat Joint Economic Committee’s report on economic challenges and opportunities was released this week, providing further evidence of the setbacks this generation faces due to the economic recession.
Millennials, measured as 18- to- 34-year-olds in this report, currently make up one-third of the total labor force. This percentage is likely to grow as the youngest millennials finish school, the report adds.
But despite their ability to participate in the work, unemployment rates for this group are much higher than for their older counterparts.
Though this generation has been educated at higher levels than any age group before it, total unemployment still sits at 8.9 percent, compared to a pre-recession level of 7.2 percent. For underemployed millennials, the different is even worse. The report found that 16.8 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds were underemployed.
“Even if young people land new, better-paying jobs at some point, lower earnings earlier in their careers may result in permanently lower retirement savings and net worth than might have been the case if economic conditions had been better when they first entered the labor force,” the report stated.
And it’s not just jobs that will be hurting the millennial generation.
In 2003, nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 headed a household. By 2013, the rate had declined to 37.2 percent. The report also found that household income adjusted for inflation for Americans aged 25 to 34 declined by more than 10 percent over that time period.
And, even worse, the percentage of millennials living with their parents has increased from 11 percent before the recession to 14 percent, according to the report.
The report gave a lot of Democrat talking points for helping improve job possibilities for millennials, such as raising the minimum wage which could actually hurt them. But Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the Senate chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee, also told The Hill that this report helps prove the need for for lawmakers to help millennials with their skyrocketing student loan debt.
“The success of our younger generations is critical to our country’s future,” she said. “Millennials are the most-educated generation in history, but many of them still face challenges because they entered the workforce during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.”
