Yet another Generation Broke article
Just in time for Thanksgiving (ha ha), another article from the St. Petersburg Times on our drowning-in-debt generation.
"Fresh financial data show young adults are challenged as never before, certainly not since World War II, thanks to debt pressures today that did not exist a generation or two ago.'This is as bad as it has been for young adults - absolutely,' says Tamara Draut, who works for the Demos USA think tank in New York and recently analyzed the financial plight of young Americans.
The impact goes beyond financial.
'The larger social implication is that we will have a whole generation of people for whom this country's social contract does not exist,' Draut says. The social contract means that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will get ahead.
That will not happen for this generation, warns Draut, if current trends continue.
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Every politician and business leader bemoans the mediocre U.S. educational system and insists a better-educated population is key to keeping this country competitive in the future. Yet here we are, describing how college educations are getting so expensive that they undermine the financial stability of their own graduates.
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By far the biggest concern is what happens to the young and in-debt if they enter middle age still struggling to pay off ancient loans. That could make the American Dream look more like the American Nightmare."