Young adult economic mobility has been greatly restricted by today’s crises. As mounting student loan debt and historic levels of unemployment worsen, it is hard for many young adults to find shelter and a stable source of food, much less pursue an education, buy a home, start a family, or get a quality job with retirement benefits. The full video from this session is posted here.
This session focused on how to remove barriers to economic mobility for young adults. The panelists paid special attention to the potential role of the social safety net in rebuilding from the current crisis and making long-overdue structural changes.
Many students have to put their dreams on hold during the Covid-19 crisis. Kiara Balleza (a Young Invincibles – Midwest Young Advocate) shared how she and many other students have had to sideline their career ambitions to focus on their families. She noted that many young adults already had to balance working a job and attending school before the pandemic, but Covid-19 has made this balancing act even more stressful. Making matters worse, many students don’t have consistent access to wifi or computers, hindering their ability to access education as many schools transition to online learning.
Numerous economic analyses have concluded that increasing the minimum wage would lead to higher earnings for less-educated workers and young adults. John Marotta (Policy Associate, Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute) has extensively researched minimum wage academic literature. He noted that the minimum wage literature is vast, so there is some disagreement on the economy-wide effects of raising the minimum wage. However, Marotta argued that there is a growing body of research showing that a higher minimum wage leads to higher earnings for marginalized populations, particularly workers of color. Further, many of these studies have demonstrated that a higher minimum wage is associated with reduced wage inequality without significant job losses.
Food and housing insecurity must be addressed in tandem with workforce development efforts. Kiara Balleza also offered her thoughts on the resources students at her university need. She noted that her school has a wellness center and a career center. These centers promote housing security, food security, and employment. However, Balleza believes that her university still must do more to ensure that the basic needs of students are met. She shared that over two-thirds of students at her school are still food or housing insecure. Consequently, her university and other institutions like it should bolster their investment in wraparound services that alleviate housing and food insecurity.
Programs that support marginalized populations like formerly incarcerated people remain underfunded. Kiki Dunston (Alumni Coordinator, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison) revealed that––despite knowing what needs must be met––the funding is simply not there for resources that support formerly incarcerated people. To make up for insufficient government assistance, her organization has leveraged local donations; however, Dunston argued that it is still important to ensure that everyone has access to healthcare, SNAP payments, and cash assistance at the state and national levels. Otherwise, formerly incarcerated people won’t have access to the resources they need to survive.
The workforce development system is siloed from other systems. Going forward, John Marotta argued that workforce development efforts and education systems must work together toward their shared aims in order to adequately support students. Stronger connections between high schools and businesses in tandem with state-level financial investment would more effectively connect young adults with employment opportunities. Marotta also echoed Dunston’s revelation that without sustainable state and federal funding, policymakers cannot achieve very much.
The House of Representatives has bipartisan legislation to bolster the social safety net in response to Covid-19. Eyang Garrison (Deputy Chief of Staff, Rep. Marcia Fudge) revealed that behind the scenes there has been bipartisan work in the House to rapidly pass legislation in response to Covid. The House has worked to provide relief in the following areas: giving states the ability to provide emergency SNAP benefits, suspending SNAP’s work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, providing more money to food banks, providing flexibility to school districts to serve meals to students in non-congregate settings, and creating pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer access for students who received free lunch.
Policymakers must pass laws that adequately address health care and continue to support young adults after the pandemic. Kiara Balleza likes how Congress has fought against food insecurity; however, she argued that the response from Congress hasn’t adequately responded to health care concerns. She believes that decision-makers need to have more discussions about the affordability of medical care, especially for undocumented people. Further, she argued that the new programs created in response to Covid-19 must be long-term and continue to support people long after the pandemic is over.
If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. Eyang Garrison emphasized that elected representatives are there to listen to constituents. She encouraged people to reach out to their senators and representatives in Congress. Calling your member of Congress gives you a seat at the table, and if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.
Closing Thoughts
YI’s second workforce roundtable made it clear that low wages, inadequate social safety net protections, siloed workforce development systems, and insufficient federal funding coalesce into a system that makes it exceedingly difficult for many young adults to economically advance, especially during a recession. Panelists argued that well-funded policies that outlast the pandemic must be enacted to adequately support young adults as they navigate a turbulent economy.
The next and final roundtable picked up where this roundtable left off by examining the future of the workforce and workforce development policy. Panelists envisioned a national policy response to the current recession that invests in people by training them in in-demand industries and collects data on the outcomes of workforce development programs.
