What is the issue with Generation Debt?
AK: People under 35 are being hit by three converging historic trends: the cost of education, the changing job market, and the debt culture. The most important is the cost of education. For the first time ever, you need at least a bachelor’s degree to get most middle-class jobs. That degree is now more expensive than it’s ever been. For most students, the cost of college is double what it was 20 years ago, in constant dollars. And federal aid is available more and more in the form of loans—not grants. That means two-thirds of students who graduate with a B.A. owe an average of $20,000. Professional school or graduate students have even more debt, running into the six figures, on average. The second most important trend affecting young people is instability in the job market. Young people are finding that short-term, part-time, temporary, freelance, or contract work is the new norm in American companies. That’s why young people are the largest and fastest-growing group of Americans with
