Millennials need better economic prospects to thrive

Last week, I read an article with the title of “The Forgotten Millennials” in The New Republic. The piece was about author Rebecca Nelson’s contention that Hillary Clinton isn’t doing enough to win over millennials who aren’t college educated.

The statistics in the article—not so much the author’s point—along with its title have stuck with me. Popular notions about these 75 million or so Americans between the ages of 18 and 35, propagated by the media, is that they’re entitled, highly educated, self-absorbed, irresponsible, lazy, leeching off mom and dad, obsessively plugged into social media and ethnically diverse. It’s true, millennials are the most educated and diverse generation in history. And it would be difficult to argue that we don’t like our iPhones.

More than one truth about millennials

But there’s another side to millennials that runs completely contrary to those notions yet is every bit as true. It’s rather obvious to say, but it’s too often left out: those who don’t have a bachelor’s degree, don’t have a bachelor’s degree—which is about two-thirds of millennials. In fact, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), reports that 40 percent never made it past high school. It remains to be seen how many of this generation ultimately get or finish a four-year degree—not that a diploma is the silver bullet for all of anyone’s career and financial woes. It helps, but it’s not a panacea.

As it stands, the average 29-year-old, as I learned in an Atlantic article with that very title that back in April, has some college, makes a median $35,000 a year and has had seven jobs in his or her life. Forty percent are married or cohabitating and 35 percent own a home.

As millennials go, so goes America

We hear a lot, including here in my column, about the debt and poor employment prospects of millennials. While that “downward mobility” of educated millennials is certainly cause for alarm, here’s something more alarming: 12 percent of millennials without a four-year degree are unemployed, 22 percent fall below the poverty line, and the median wealth of Blacks and Hispanics has declined for more than a decade. Even for those with that coveted degree, according to a 2015 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

All of us, myself included and I’m a member, need to conceptualize millennials differently. While there’s much about them that is radically new and unprecedented, there’s much that’s also very familiar and even typical. They are a varied group—blue-collar, educated, white, minority, immigrant and the latest of many generations—trying to make it. Ring a bell? Pretty much the story of America.

Regardless of who our next President is, we need to improve the economic prospects for millennials. A little hint: that’s code for improving opportunities for all of us. As the younger generation goes, so goes America. 

Jennifer Pagliara is a financial adviser with CapWealth Advisors. Her column appears every other week in The Tennessean. For more information, visit capwealthadvisors.com.