Written by Mairead   

After years of Republican rule, setting the stage for the current financial crisis, I began to wonder if there was a link between Republican presidents and recessions. What I found was this:



2008 recession: GW Bush (R)

2002-2003 recession: GW Bush (R)

1990-1991 recession: GHW Bush (R)

1980-1982 recession: Reagan (R)

1973-1975 recession: Ford (R)

1957-1958 recession: Eisenhower(R)



I know that the economy is cyclical, but there seems to be a trend here. Are Republican presidents simply unlucky, unaware, or unfazed?

We should also keep in mind the Great Depression came after 3 Republican presidents in a row: Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.

It seems clear that there is a direct link between economic downfalls and corruption.

I also wondered how exactly the current economic situation was going to affect me personally and my peers on the whole. And what the current administration plans to do about it.

President Obama's approval rating is on the upswing again jumping up 8 points since last month, though I have to say I have found myself at times discouraged by his less than impressive attempts to turn the country around. Picking apart the vague and typical political verbiage of the State of the Union, I decided to watch and comment on it from the point of view of a member of Generation Y, focusing primarily on education, the economy, and Social Security.



"Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown. You didn't always need a degree, and your competition was pretty much limited to your neighbors. If you worked hard, chances are you'd have a job for life, with a decent paycheck, good benefits, and the occasional promotion.

That world has changed. I've heard it in the frustrations of Americans who've seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear – proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game."

Many working individuals today like people in my parents generation, have never lived during a time where the economy was this bad. Previous recessions and even the recession of the early 1980s which led to a loss of over 2 million jobs and hit the Industrial Midwest the hardest was not as bad as this one. Believing that the average 20-something will have the same experience starting their lives and their careers as Generation X or The Baby Boom Generation is delusional. Youth unemployment is now at over 20%. That’s one in five.

My peers and I are often referred to as the Peter Pan Generation because certain milestones typically reached in early adulthood are not being met until later in life as a trend of living with parents for a longer period of time has begun. The economic crises like the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the 2007 housing bubble that has lead to the current financial crisis have made paying rent difficult for this group of young adults dealing with such high unemployment and underemployment rates. Men seem to be faring worse than women, but keeping in mind the male-female income disparity; you can see how many females’ situations have gone from difficult to dire. And if that wasn't bad enough, currently Illinois has an unemployment rate of 9.3%, ranking 31 in the country, only slightly better than Arizona and Tennessee. My hope is that with many Baby-Boomers retiring in the next ten years, that while maybe we'll have a slow start to our working lives, perhaps there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.



"We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business.

Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us – as citizens, and as parents – are willing to do what's necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities.

Of course, the education race doesn't end with a high school diploma. To compete, higher education must be within reach of every American. That's why we've ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit – worth $10,000 for four years of college."

According to Wikipedia: Generation Y who grew up in Asian countries show different preferences and expectations of work to those who grew up in the US or Europe. This is usually attributed to the differing cultural and economic conditions experienced while growing up.

Maybe it was a mistake for adults to tell their children they could be whatever they wanted to be. Maybe it was a mistake filling our heads with ideals and dreams and hopes that are now being crushed. Perhaps if we regarded hard work the same way we do creativity and imagination, there would be more young adults ready to leave the nest.

Not everyone’s parents want to see them succeed. Some of them, driven by their own shame and shortcomings, do nothing but stand in the way of their children’s futures. Their inability to realize the destructive effects of their actions only allows it to continue. Their lives have been lived. It's a shame they can't give their children the ability to begin theirs. In cases like these, there must be more options.

Now, the 'lost generation' who struggled with No Child Left Behind is too old to benefit from Race To The Top, ideas, such as those suggested by Florida lawmakers, where teachers give parents grades on their involvement in their children’s education, or any programs put in place to assist students in math and science; too young to be taken seriously by those with the power to hand out good paying jobs. This situation is made increasingly more difficult by the costs and regulations of higher education, which often seem to dash any dreams of making a decent living.

"But now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same.

So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. This freeze will require painful cuts.

I recognize that some in this Chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. And let's make sure what we're cutting is really excess weight. Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine."



I am hopeful and grateful that such cuts are being made and programs are being put into place to help Generation Z so that they aren’t in the same situation, but at times it feels too little, too late for Generation Y. As I attempt to go back to school in the coming year, I will be able to see for myself exactly how young adults can benefit from these education tax credits. However, it’s difficult to have a positive outlook.

"To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations. And we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans' guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market."

Today’s workers pay for today’s retirees. FICA takes 7.65% of your check, 6.2% of which goes to social security. When the program was put into effect, it was beyond successful. At that time, 42 workers could pay for a single retiree’s benefits. Today, only 3 workers can pay for a single retiree’s benefits. As this continues, and there are fewer workers per retiree, Social Security will begin paying out more than it takes in beginning in 2018 and Baby Boomers will completely bankrupt the program in 2040. I’ll be 53.

These issues are no secret, but if politicians continue to ignore the consequences, it will threaten to dismantle the entire US economy. Obama mentioned the issue, but provided no solutions. And I have doubts that tax cuts from the wealthiest Americans will ever happen, and if they do, I doubt they will be enough.

President Clinton weighed these problems and gave three clear answers: private investment, tax hikes, or benefit cuts. However, if I were a politician, I wouldn’t be so quick to raise taxes on working individuals or cutting benefits from retirees (the most politically active group of US citizens).

As much as I hate to agree with him, George Bush’s proposal to take a fraction of personal wages and create private accounts within the Social Security system seems like the best idea, but I think Generation Y doesn’t really understand these issues and thus they do nothing.

Millennials needs to get behind this idea full-force and take responsibility for their future, or these issues will continue to be the ignored elephant in the room. We’ve got the most to gain, but also the most to lose and the sooner we realize that, the better. I don’t want to have to work until the day I die. We should be able to enjoy our retirement the same way our money has allowed today’s retirees to do so.

In short, while the economy may be looking like it’s turning around (just today the DOW topped 12,000 which hasn’t happened since June 2008), there are still many problems ahead and unfortunately Generation Y may fall through the cracks of any education or economic reform that’s already in effect and that which has yet to be put in place in the years to come.



“The future is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future. This is the essential challenge of the present.”-Robert F. Kennedy