Testimony by Jared Meyer to House Republican Policy Committee
Millennials and the GOP: The Need to Restore Lost Economic Opportunity to America’s Young
Members of House Republican Policy Committee, thank you for the opportunity to give testimony on how to begin shaping the Republican agenda to fit the needs of millennials. Currently, I am a fellow at Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. I am the coauthor, with Diana Furchtgott-Roth, of Disinherited: How Washington Is Betraying America’s Young (Encounter Books, May 2015).
Young Americans realize that they are getting a raw deal. In our research for Disinherited, reported in the book, Diana and I spoke to many millennials. We found that their largest concern is getting jobs and building their careers. Unfortunately, many federal policies stand in their way.
The economic recovery has left young Americans behind. The unemployment rate for young people ages 20 to 24, 10 percent, is over twice as high as the rate for those over 25 years old, 4.5 percent. The teenage unemployment rate is 18 percent.1 Early work experience is critical to future success, as it teaches the soft and hard skills that traditional high school and college educations cannot.
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