Liberals love to hit Republicans hard over their so called “war on women” or their alleged “war on the poor,” but they tend to give themselves a pass on their own, much broader, war on the young. Growing generational inequality in the form of massive, unfunded economic subsidies supporting the old, and paid for by the young, has led many commentators to predict a future “generational showdown.”
In this looming conflict between the young and old, most Millennials have been fighting for the wrong side – overwhelmingly supporting Democrats at the polls and seemingly waging war against their own economic self-interest. There are signs that might finally be changing.
There’s no denying that the past five years have been a disaster for Millennials. Despite being the most educated group of young people in history, a historically high 36 percent of young adults ages 18-31 lived with their parents in 2012. Youth unemployment remains exceptionally high – 13 percent for adults aged 18 to 24. Student loan debt has also risen dramatically in recent years, and Millennials have less wealth and income than both previous generations had at similar stages in their lives.
The long-term fiscal picture is where things really start to look bad for Millennials. Even though young workers are now paying 6.2 percent of their income (assuming they have a job) to support Social Security, the “trust fund” will be completely depleted by 2033, when current 21-year old workers turn 40. How many young people would voluntarily put 6.2 percent of their paycheck into a 401K if they knew their return on investment was less than zero?
To make matters worse, if current spending levels continue, the young will also be saddled with much higher future tax rates in order to pay off the $17 trillion national debt. Dwarfing what they may owe in student loans, every young American faces a $53,242 share of the nation’s debt (or over $400,000 per person if you include unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare).
President Obama’s signature legislation, Obamacare, also hits younger Americans particularly hard. In order to keep insurance premiums low for older, sicker Americans, healthy Millennials in the individual insurance markets might see rate increases averaging 169 percent. The popular Democratic promise of “free” birth control starts to look pretty expensive when your premium more than doubles.
In sum, America’s fiscal and economic policies could most accurately be described as a massive wealth distribution from young to old, yet Millennials in 2008 and 2012 largely supported Democratic politicians favoring this fiscal status quo (or even seek increased spending), while they shunned Republican candidates who offered aggressive reforms to make America fiscally solvent.
It wasn’t always that way. Young voters supported Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the 1980’s, and only barely favored Democratic President Bill Clinton and Presidential Nominee Al Gore in the 1990’s and in 2000.
After years of enthusiasm over vague notions of “hope and change,” at last it seems that today’s youth are waking up to economic reality. Only 38 percent of young voters now approve of Obamacare, and only 29 percent of uninsured youth said they will definitely or likely enroll in the health insurance exchanges. Late last year, 52 percent of Millennials said they would recall and replace President Obama.
Late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel hit the nail on the head when he poked fun at uninformed young voters who support Obamacare and other policies promoting youth inequity. His tagline on an imagined youth-targeting Obamacare ad: “The Affordable Care Act: Next Time, Maybe Pick Up a Newspaper.”
They may have missed the writing on the wall in 2008 and 2012, but in 2014 and 2016, it’s looking more and more like disillusioned and independent-minded Millennials may wise up and tune-in to what Republicans like libertarian-minded Rand Paul or youthful reformer Paul Ryan have to offer them.
