U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

97–901 2016

S. HRG. 114–176 

MILLENNIAL VOICES ON ADVANCING THE 

AMERICAN DREAM 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOVEMBER 18, 2015 

Printed for the use of the Joint Economic Committee 

( 
(II) 

JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE 

[Created pursuant to Sec. 5(a) of Public Law 304, 79th Congress] 

SENATE 

DANIEL COATS, Indiana, Chairman 

MIKE LEE, Utah 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

BEN SASSE, Nebraska 

TED CRUZ, Texas 

BILL CASSIDY, M.D., Louisiana 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

KEVIN BRADY, Texas, Vice Chairman 

JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan 

ERIK PAULSEN, Minnesota 

RICHARD L. HANNA, New York 

DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona 

GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York, Ranking 

JOHN DELANEY, Maryland 

ALMA S. ADAMS, PH.D., North Carolina 

DONALD S. BEYER, JR., Virginia 

VIRAJ M. MIRANI, Executive Director 

HARRY GURAL, Democratic Staff Director 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS

Hon. Daniel Coats, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from Indiana .............................. 1 

Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney, Ranking Member, a U.S. Representative from 

New York .............................................................................................................. 2 

WITNESSES

Hon. Elise Stefanik, a U.S. Representative from New York ................................ 5 

Mr. Jared Meyer, Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, New York, 

NY ......................................................................................................................... 7 

Ms. Jennifer Mishory, Executive Director, Young Invincibles, Washington, 

DC .......................................................................................................................... 9 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD

Prepared statement of Hon. Daniel Coats, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from 

Indiana .................................................................................................................. 30 

Report titled ‘‘Millennials’ Slow Start Down the Road of LIFE’’ .................. 31 

Prepared statement of Hon. Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. Senator from Minnesota .. 36 

Prepared statement of Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney, Ranking Member, a U.S. 

Representative from New York ........................................................................... 36 

Prepared statement of Hon. Elise Stefanik, a U.S. Representative from New 

York ....................................................................................................................... 38 

Prepared statement of Mr. Jared Meyer, Fellow, Manhattan Institute for 

Policy Research, New York, NY .......................................................................... 41 

Prepared statement of Ms. Jennifer Mishory, Executive Director, Young 

Invincibles, Washington, DC ............................................................................... 51 

Chart titled ‘‘Marginal Tax Rates Must Nearly Double to Fund Entitlement 

Spending’’ submitted by Representative David Schweikert ............................. 61 

Questions for the record for Mr. Jared Meyer submitted by Congresswoman 

Carolyn B. Maloney, Ranking Member, and responses .................................... 62 

Questions for the record for Ms. Jennifer Mishory submitted by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Ranking Member, and responses ....................... 63 

Questions for the record for Mr. Jared Meyer submitted by Senator Amy 

Klobuchar and responses ..................................................................................... 66 

Questions for the record for Ms. Jennifer Mishory submitted by Senator 

Amy Klobuchar and responses ............................................................................ 66 

(1) 

MILLENNIAL VOICES ON ADVANCING THE 

AMERICAN DREAM 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, 2:06 p.m. in Room 106 of 

the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Honorable Daniel Coats, 

Chairman, presiding. 

Representatives present: Paulsen, Hanna, Schweikert, 

Maloney, and Beyer. 

Senators present: Coats, Cassidy, Klobuchar, and Heinrich. 

Staff present: David Brauer, Connie Foster, Harry Gural, Colleen Healy, Christina King, Kristine Michalson, Viraj Mirani, 

Brian Neale, Thomas Nicholas, Leslie Phillips, Stephanie Salomon, 

Aaron Smith, and Sue Sweet. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL COATS, CHAIRMAN, A 

U.S. SENATOR FROM INDIANA 

Chairman Coats. The Committee will come to order. We appreciate our witnesses here today to talk about Millennials. Obviously 

I am not totally qualified to totally relate to Millennials. One of my 

staff members who is in my age bracket said, ‘‘You should have me 

on the witness table because I’ve got two Millennials living in my 

house, and I can’t get them launched.’’ 

[Laughter.] 

So it is going to be an interesting hearing that we have today, 

and it is an important one because we are dealing with a generation of people who are very important to the future of this country, 

and there are issues that we need to talk about. 

I am going to give a very brief opening statement. Our first witness, Congresswoman Stefanik has to get back to the House, and 

so we want to get to her quickly so she can do that, and then also 

hear from our other witnesses. 

The Joint Economic Committee has produced a piece here, 

thanks to some very good staff work, titled ‘‘Millennials’ Slow Start 

Down The Road of Life.’’ It talks about the challenges that this 

generation has in terms of education, debt to achieve that education, unemployment and not finding jobs that match the talents 

and skills learned in college, stagnant and less promise of career 

path growth in the job market, delay of marriage, housing issues 

not a priority but delayed by debt, and job uncertainty, and looming spending and rising debt that have put Millennials’ futures at 

risk. 
2 

All of these are issues, and there are others that we will be discussing today. I am going to ask unanimous consent that my full 

statement be entered into the record, and also if Senator Klobuchar 

does not arrive, she has asked, in a timely basis, she has asked 

also for her statement to be put in the record. 

I will turn now to our Ranking Member, Congresswoman 

Maloney, for her opening statement, and then we will move to introduce our witnesses and start the hearing. 

[The prepared statement of Chairman Coats appears in the Submissions for the Record on page 30.] 

[The report titled ‘‘Millennials’ Slow Start Down the Road of 

LIFE’’ appears in the Submissions for the Record on page 31.] 

[The prepared statement of Senator Klobuchar appears in the 

Submissions for the Record on page 36.] 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY, 

RANKING MEMBER, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW YORK 

Representative Maloney. Thank you so much, Chairman 

Coats, for calling today’s hearing. Millennials are central to our 

Nation’s economic, social, and cultural vitality. They are the largest 

generation, bigger than the Baby Boomers, approximately 88 million people. 

They are also the most educated and racially diverse generation 

in United States history. But Millennials face significant challenges 

in many ways far greater than those experienced by the Boomers. 

Millennials generally have higher rates of unemployment, lower 

incomes, and more student debt. Many Millennials have had no 

choice but to delay getting married, buying a home, and saving for 

retirement. 

These challenges were greatly magnified by the Bush-Era Great 

Recession. The Recession was an economic catastrophe that deeply 

hurt many Millennials and will have a lasting impact on them. 

We have come a long ways since the darkest days of the Recession. The economy continues to recover. The overall unemployment 

rate has been cut in half, and businesses have added jobs for 68 

consecutive months, the longest streak on record. 

Millennials have benefited substantially from this recovery. Unemployment is down and wages are beginning to move up. This 

year’s college graduates will likely enter the best job market in 

years. Yet significant problems remain. 

It is useful to compare what Millennials are experiencing today 

to what the Baby Boomers experienced a generation ago. Many 

Baby Boomers with only a high school education could afford to 

buy a house, raise a family, save for retirement, and pass something on to their children. But most Millennials will need a college 

degree to come close to matching that success and will struggle 

longer to achieve it. 

The question is how to pay for it. The real median income for 

those households headed by a 25- to 34-year-old has fallen by nearly 10 percent in the past 15 years. So more young people have been 

forced to borrow money to go to college. The share of households 

headed by someone under age 35 with student loan debt has more 

than doubled since 1989, and they borrow more money, too, with 

median debt tripling during this same period. 
3 

Some Millennials will end up paying back loans well into their 

30s, 40s, and even their 50s. And because so many Millennials 

leave college with student debt, they do not have the money for a 

down payment for a first home. Home ownership for those under 

35 years old has declined and is now about 2 percentage points 

below its average in 1994. 

Young people are even returning home to live with their parents. 

The Pew Foundation finds that a larger share of women 18 to 34 

years old are living at home, 36 percent, than at any time since 

1940 when those statistics were first collected, and the share of 

men is even higher. 

I hope we can use the hearing today to not only understand the 

scope of these problems, but also to focus on solutions. 

For guidance, let’s look at the first rule of medicine: Do no harm. 

Let’s start with education. Should we force students to rely on private student loans that are more costly and come with fewer consumer protections? 

No. The truth is that Millennials cannot afford it. What about 

government spending? Should we slash spending so we have a 

smaller government that provides fewer services? 

Fifty-three percent of Millennials oppose that approach. Let’s 

turn to health care. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, uninsured 

rates for younger Millennials have been cut in half, as those under 

the age of 26 are now able to stay on their parents plans as well 

as utilize exchanges across the country. 

Should we cave to efforts to repeal the health care law? Of course 

not. Millennials make up approximately 7 in 10 workers who earn 

at or below the minimum wage. Should we allow the right wing to 

block efforts to increase the minimum wage? Clearly, no. 

Should we privatize Social Security? No. Instead, let’s come together to pass modest measures to make sure that it will be strong 

when Millennials need it. 

Should we roll back consumer financial protections that help protect them from predatory practices? Some call this cutting red tape. 

I would call it dangerous. 

But it is not enough to block destructive actions that hurt 

Millennials. We must focus on targeted actions that will help them. 

And I will mention just a few. 

We need to make college more affordable by strengthening federal and state support for higher education, making tuition free at 

community colleges, and increasing investments in Pell Grants. 

We need family-friendly policies so Millennial parents can make 

a living and raise their children. Let’s repair our Nation’s roads 

and bridges to lay the groundwork for a stronger economy. 

If we don’t do it now, Millennials will pay a very steep price 

down the road. And let’s not ignore what will perhaps be the greatest challenge of our time: climate change. 

We must fight those who claim that climate change is a hoax. 

Failing to address climate change would leave an unimaginable 

burden on Millennials and future generations. 

The challenges facing Millennials are real, but the solutions exist 

and it is our job to help chart the course forward. Let me close by 

saying that it is wonderful to have on our panel a colleague from 

the House, and a Member of the New York delegation. So, welcome, 
4 

Elise, and I look forward to your perspective as well as the testimony of the other panelists. 

Thank you, and I yield back. 

[The prepared statement of Representative Maloney appears in 

the Submissions for the Record on page 36.] 

Chairman Coats. Senator Klobuchar, I have already put your 

statement into the record, but I would love to give you some time 

to summarize what you had to say. 

Senator Klobuchar. As the Ranking Senator, thank you. I am 

going to have to leave early, but I did also want to thank Ms. 

Mishory for being here. She is going to be in Minnesota in mid-November, which we know is the best time to visit—right, Congressman Paulsen? 

[Laughter.] 

And then, Representative Stefanik, I know you used to work for 

Tim Pawlenty, our former Governor, so we welcome you any time. 

This issue of the Millennials, I am so glad that you are having 

a hearing on this because we know that so many different issues 

confront Millennials. And I have heard Congresswoman Maloney go 

through a number of very important issues. I think the savings 

issue is going to be important. As you have more people that are 

changing jobs in the GIG economy, which when I first heard about 

it I though it meant like gigs, as in computers, and then I realized 

you mean a lot of jobs. And with so many jobs with Millennials, 

that is going to be a piece of it. And, as well we know, the student 

loan costs, paid sick leave, and so many economic challenges. But 

there’s also so many opportunities with the economy having stabilized and improving. 

So with that, I am going to let you go on with the hearing here. 

Senator Blunt and I had agreed to meet with the Ambassador from 

the Congo on some important adoption issues, but I look forward 

to hearing what happens. Thank you. 

Chairman Coats. Senator, thank you. 

I am going to do something a little bit different here. I am going 

to introduce Mr. Meyer, and then introduce Ms. Mishory, and then 

have Congressman Hanna introduce you. And the last shall be 

first. The last to be introduced will be the first witness, given your 

time constraints. 

Mr. Jared Meyer is a Fellow of the Manhattan Institute. His research includes micro economic theory—don’t ask me what that 

is—and the economic effects of government regulations. Mr. Meyer 

is a regular contributor to several national media outlets, is co-author with Diana Furchtgott-Roth of ‘‘Disinherited: How Washington 

Is Betraying America’s Young,’’ published just this year. He will 

have a tape—no, not a table outside where—— 

[Laughter.] 

He can sign the book, but you can go to Barnes & Noble, or 

Books-a-Million and get that book. 

Before joining the Manhattan Institute, he was a research assistant for political philosopher Douglas Rasmussen. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a minor in Philosophy of Law from 

St. John’s University. We welcome you, Mr. Meyer. 
5 

And Ms. Jennifer Mishory, Executive Director and Founding staff 

member of Young Invincibles. That’s what some of my kids say 

they are. 

[Laughter.] 

She is a member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She previously served as consumer representative for the National Association of Insurance 

Commissioners, and graduated with honors from UCLA. She received her Law Degree from Georgetown University Law Center, 

and is admitted to the California Bar. 

I would like to turn now to Representative Hanna to introduce 

our first witness. 

Representative Hanna. Thank you, Chairman. 

I am pleased today to introduce my friend and colleague, Representative Elise Stefanik who serves the 21st District of New 

York, just north of me. Representative Stefanik graduated from 

Harvard University with honors as the first member of her immediate family to graduate from college. 

She is not only the youngest Member of Congress serving today, 

but she is also the youngest woman ever to be elected to this institution. 

She is a member of both the Armed Services Committee and the 

Committee on Educational Workforce. She also serves as a freshman representative to the Policy Committee, and heads the Millennial Task Force. 

Representative Stefanik was formerly Director of Communications for the Foreign Policy Initiative, and worked in the White 

House as part of George W. Bush’s Domestic Policy Council staff. 

Prior to her election, Representative Stefanik also worked at her 

family’s small business, Premium Plywood Products, founded over 

20 years ago in Upstate New York. Welcome. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ELISE STEFANIK, A U.S. 

REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW YORK 

Representative Stefanik. Thank you, Congressman Hanna. 

Am I good to go? Great. 

Good afternoon, Chairman Coats, Ranking Member Maloney, and 

my Distinguished Colleagues on this Committee. 

It is truly an honor to participate in today’s hearing and have the 

opportunity to discuss issues that are not only important to my 

constituents, but also to over 80 million other Millennial Americans 

throughout our country. 

It is critical that we as legislators recognize the opportunity Congress has to support and empower Millennials, the current generation between the ages of 18 and 33 years old. 

I look forward to sharing my unique perspective both as a Millennial and as a Millennial Member of Congress. 

Over the last year, I have chaired the House Republican Millennial Task Force. This Task Force aims to identify and tackle the 

issues facing Millennials, while also embracing the unique and innovative ways these Americans face challenges. 

I have chaired three hearings to date to address these goals, and 

trust that what was learned will prove helpful to this Committee. 
6 

In June, the Task Force invited several leaders in Millennial research and polling, including Mr. Meyer who is here with us today. 

The hearing explored and delved into the demographics of 

Millennials and identified key issues of concern. 

We learned that Millennials make up one in three U.S. workers, 

and have now overtaken Generation Xers as the largest generation 

in our Nation’s workforce. Additionally, Millennials are the most 

educated generation in our history, while also carrying student 

loan debt far greater than our parents and grandparents. 

We also learned that a majority of Millennials do not believe they 

will be able to attain the standard of living or the quality of life 

enjoyed by their parents. 

Our witnesses explained that this generation faces entrenched 

challenges to innovation and advancement that are the result of a 

Federal Government that has not recognized and responded to a 

changing America. 

In August, I held a field hearing in my District where I spoke 

to Millennials from diverse fields, ranging from advertising to agriculture. These young Americans from New York’s 21st District 

shared the hopes they have as they start their professional careers, 

as well as the challenges they face in today’s economy. 

Ethan Allen, a Millennial farmer who I represent, mentioned the 

regulatory burdens young farmers face as they look into entering 

the agricultural field. Other Millennials who participated on the 

panel spoke of the crippling student debt that prevents them from 

starting new businesses, and also the crushing costs of health care 

that make it a challenge to save for retirement. 

However, what truly inspired and impressed me was the optimism, and this new way of looking at the world which this Millennial generation exudes. These are young Americans that strive for 

fulfilling jobs and care about their local communities. 

They do not shy away from challenges, and they want to participate in society, their communities, and in local government. However, often they feel held back by archaic processes and over-regulation. 

As leaders in Congress, we can help with these challenges, and 

we can support and help grow our empowerment economy to allow 

young people to bring about economic change for themselves. 

Just this past Monday I chaired the third Task Force hearing 

here. We explored how companies are attracting and retaining 

Millennials in their workforce, as well as how today’s technology is 

providing flexible opportunities for Millennials to earn money and 

advance their careers. 

I heard from Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers who shared 

their thoughts on the empowerment economy. Mazie Clark, a Millennial from Google, pointed out how flexibility and competitive 

benefits are enjoyable, but at the end of the day it is about empowering workers to succeed and live the lives they desire. 

Terri McClements from PricewaterhouseCoopers discussed the 

real-time feedback system at their company that instills open communication and a sense of ownership among employees, 80 percent 

of whom are Millennials. 

Another witness at the hearing was Uber, which is a great example of the empowerment economy. This company allows for flexi-
7 

bility and allows, for example, a full-time student to earn a living 

on their own schedule, or even gives a stay-at-home mom the opportunity to set her own hours and receive a paycheck to benefit 

her young family. 

By allowing Americans the flexibility to work the hours that fit 

within their busy daily schedule, companies such as Uber are creating the needed opportunities which are desperately desired by 

Millennials. 

Although these Task Force hearings have primarily focused on 

the economics of the Millennial generation, it is critical that we address the student loan debt crisis. I share the concerns of this Committee and many of my House and Senate colleagues. 

When the most educated generation in our Nation’s history cannot start businesses, purchase homes, or save for retirement because they are held back by decades of loan payments, we must 

make it a priority to discuss innovative ways to address this solution. 

I am thankful to have been invited to speak to this Committee 

today, and I look forward to an ongoing and productive conversation on how we as leaders in Congress can best serve the 80 million 

Millennials across this Great Nation who will be our future leaders. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Representative Stefanik appears in 

the Submissions for the Record on page 38.] 

Chairman Coats. Well thank you very much. We appreciate 

that. We hope you will be able to stay to take some questions from 

us. We understand when you’ll need to leave. 

Mr. Meyer. 

STATEMENT OF MR. JARED MEYER, FELLOW, MANHATTAN 

INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH, NEW YORK, NY 

Mr. Meyer. Chairman Coats, Ranking Member Maloney, and 

other Members of the Joint Economic Committee, I want to thank 

you for giving me the opportunity to give testimony on how to embrace Millennials’ vision of the American Dream. 

I am a Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, 

and the co-author of the book ‘‘Disinherited: How Washington Is 

Betraying America’s Young,’’ but don’t worry it isn’t any of you who 

are doing the betraying. 

Over the past four months, I have traveled across the country 

and I have spoken with Millennials about the economic challenges 

they are facing, and also their vision for the future. 

Millennials have been called the most entrepreneurial generation. While this may be true based on their desires to start businesses and their near-universal respect for entrepreneurs, few 

young Americans have followed through on their entrepreneurial 

dreams. 

A Bentley University survey of Millennials found that 66 percent 

of the respondents have a desire to start their own businesses, and 

Deloitte found that about 70 percent of Millennials envision working independently at some point in their careers. 

Yet, only 3.6 percent of businesses are at least partially owned 

by someone under the age of 30. This is the lowest proportion since 
8 

the Federal Reserve began collecting data nearly a quarter century 

ago. 

Additionally, the Brookings Institution found that business startup rates are much lower now than they were in the 1980s. But 

these declines should not be surprising. Government policy, particularly in regards to regulation, is stuck in the 20th Century and 

continues to hold back economic opportunity. 

The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations is over 175,000 pages long. 

The number of pages has steadily accumulated since the 1970s, but 

five of the six all-time high counts have occurred under President 

Obama’s tenure. And in these pages, there are over one million 

commandments from Washington in the form of restrictive words 

such as ‘‘must,’’ ‘‘cannot,’’ or ‘‘shall.’’ 

How can we expect business owners to comprehend which of 

these million restrictions apply to their businesses? It is simply a 

waste of their time. 

Financial regulations such as the Security and Exchange Commission’s restrictions on equity-based investment can severely limit 

a startup’s ability to raise capital. 

The Jobs Act of 2012, a law that President Obama touted as one 

of the ways he has aided Millennials, included a provision to allow 

for equity-based crowdfunding. Debt- or rewards-based 

crowdfunding were already permitted under existing law, but the 

SEC has still not implemented the equity crowdfunding rules, leaving entrepreneurs delaying their projects. 

And even if entrepreneurs are able to fund their businesses, 

labor regulations can prevent their projects from getting off the 

ground. One example of this is occupational licensing, which requires people to spend a substantial amount of time and money to 

gain government’s permission to work. 

One out of three American workers now needs to gain government licensing or certification in order to earn a living, and this is 

up from 1 in 20 in the 1950s. It takes an average of 70 times as 

long to become a government-approved interior designer as it does 

to become a government-approved emergency medical technician. 

Additionally, the pass rate for the Louisiana florist exam, which 

is for a florist certification, is only half as high as the pass rate for 

the Louisiana Bar Exam. 

These burdens vary across states, and licenses are rarely transferable if a practitioner moves. This disproportionately affects those 

who have to move due to a spouse’s job such as military spouses, 

and mobile, often young workers. 

The negative effects on young people from excessive occupational 

licensing are one reason why President Obama’s 2015 budget called 

for $15 million to go to states that institute common sense reforms, 

to make sure that licensing keeps the public, not established companies and practitioners, safe. 

Further initiatives to curb states’ desires to license young people 

out of work should be welcomed by federal policy makers. Other 

labor regulations affect the flexibility of entrepreneurs’ hiring decisions. A recent Labor Department proposed rule would expand the 

numbers of employees who qualify for overtime pay. 
9 

Those who earn up to $50,400 a year might have to be paid overtime, up from the current level of $23,660 a year. This would reduce flexibility for entrepreneurs and their employees. 

Telecommuting, which is another mainstay of startups, would 

also take a hit, since employers would have to keep close track of 

their employee’s hours. 

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Labor is making it more 

difficult for startups to hire contractors. DOL recently issued an 

administrator’s interpretation to clarify the definition of ‘‘independent contractor.’’ But the problems for startups arise because 

this interpretation downplays an employer’s lack of control over 

employees’ hours as a determining factor for determining employee 

versus independent contractor status. 

This means that more workers will be determined to be employees rather than contractors, and startups will be forced to pay up 

to 30 percent more, money they often do not have, to provide the 

associated benefits. 

The American Dream may have once been finding employment at 

a large company, working there for a few decades, then retiring 

with a defined benefit pension plan, but now Millennials’ American 

Dream looks much different than that of their parents and grandparents. 

New opportunities to change or advance one’s career are 

prioritized, and individualized flexible work arrangements are the 

model of the future. 

Thank you for the opportunity to give testimony, and I look forward to your questions and continuing this discussion. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Meyer appears in the Submissions for the Record on page 41.] 

Chairman Coats. Thank you. And, Ms. Mishory. 

STATEMENT OF MS. JENNIFER MISHORY, EXECUTIVE 

DIRECTOR, YOUNG INVINCIBLES, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. Mishory. Thank you. Chairman Coats, Ranking Member 

Maloney, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear here today. 

I am the Executive Director of Young Invincibles. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to expand economic opportunity for young people in this country. 

Definitions vary, but according to Pew there are 75 million 

Millennials, and we are the most diverse generation in American 

history. So 57 percent are White, 21 percent are Hispanic, 13 percent are Black, and 6 percent are Asian Americans. This compares 

to Boomers of which 72 percent are White. 

In 2013, 65 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds had completed some 

post-secondary education, and about a third of Millennials are also 

parents. 

Overall, we are the most educated, the most tech savvy, but also 

face deep financial challenges. When we interact with young people 

across the country, they tell us about struggling to attend school, 

find good jobs, raise families, and pay down debt. 

The Recession accelerated trends that left Millennials with critical challenges unlike those seen by our parents. 
10 

First, we have seen challenges in finding employment. While 

young people have experienced job growth in recent years, there 

are several negative trends in youth employment further exacerbated by the Recession. 

Unemployment levels are consistently above the overall level of 

joblessness, and this trend is even more troubling for young people 

from communities of color. 

Indeed, Millennials are now the biggest generation in the labor 

force, yet they account for just 33 percent of employed Americans. 

And this can have long-lasting effects. Years later, workers who 

graduate during a period of high unemployment earn significantly 

less than workers with better timing. 

Second, we have seen wage stagnation and benefit reductions for 

this generation. Wages have actually decreased for Millennials in 

the past decade, almost twice as fast as the decrease seen by workers across age groups. 

Young people are disproportionately more likely to work in sectors with lower wages. So median wages have declined or remained 

unchanged in the last decade in four of the top five industries employing most 18- to 24-year-olds. 

Other trends similarly impact this generation. One in four employed 18- to 34-year-olds is only working part-time. The rise of the 

sharing economy, while it does provide desired flexibility and entrepreneurship for some young workers, it has also likely accelerated 

that trend. 

As a result, many of today’s young workers lack key benefit, 

wage, and other workplace protections, and even consistent workplace scheduling when it is needed. 

Third, we have seen a growing demand for education, but also 

growing debt. Research shows that by 2020 65 percent of jobs will 

require some sort of post-secondary education beyond high school, 

yet affording college is just too hard. 

Since 1978, tuition and fees have increased over a thousand percent, primarily due to a decrease in state spending for a student. 

And state investment is down a total of 23 percent since the recession. 

As a result, student debt has ballooned. In 2014, 70 percent of 

grads left with an average of $29,000 in debt. Students tell us that 

their debt means delaying major life decisions, and a recent study 

indicated that student debt prevented $83 billion in real estate 

sales last year. 

Overall, the median net worth of young households is about 

$10,000, and that is a 41 percent decline from 1995. So it is clear. 

Tackling these challenges requires action. 

First, we need to invest in quality education. Making education 

more attainable means that states need to reinvest, and the Federal Government can help to incentivize them to move in that direction. 

And Congress must double down on investments such as the Pell 

Grant and make it available year-round. Moreover, simplifying the 

financial aid process and providing students with clear information 

about which schools are providing good outcomes would give students a better chance to make decisions that are right for them. 
11 

Congress must also address the quality issues at taxpayer funded 

poor performing schools. We can do this through risk-sharing models or other means to incentivize schools that are doing well. 

Second, we need to help those with burdensome debt. Incomebased repayment plans can provide badly needed relief, and those 

should be scaled up so that those who are struggling are not forced 

to pay back more than they can afford. Additionally, student loan 

refinancing and bankruptcy protections for those who are really in 

dire straits are common sense solutions. And those with debt need 

fair treatment from their loan servicers, and that is just not happening right now. 

Third, we need to do more to help youth who are not working 

and who are in school. With 5.6 million opportunity or disconnected 

youth in this country, youth who have potential but have not yet 

been able to find a pathway to work, we must scale initiatives to 

reconnect them to education and job training such as those funded 

through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

Apprenticeships also yield graduates with increased opportunity 

for gainful employment and a degree. 

Fourth, we must redesign workplace policies for today’s economy. 

Policies that promote family economic security often benefit young 

people, so Millennial parents are actually experiencing the highest 

poverty rates seen by any parents in the past 25 years. 

Young parents experience a series of unique challenges, including 

care-taking responsibilities, and barriers to stable work and school 

schedules, as 25 percent of students are actually parents. 

Policies such as improving access to on-campus child care for student parents, and better access to paid leave could better support 

this generation now starting families. Despite the challenges we 

face, Millennials are optimistic. It is up to us to make sure that 

perception of the future becomes a reality. 

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to the discussion. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Mishory appears in the Submissions for the Record on page 51.] 

Chairman Coats. Well thank you, and I appreciate the testimony from our three witnesses. I will just ask a few brief questions 

here, and then turn to my colleagues. 

Ms. Stefanik, you indicated that despite the challenges that 

Millennials face—and you named a number of them—there is a 

real sense of optimism. That is a bit surprising, given the fact that 

so many Millennials have been labeled as working in less skilled 

jobs than the skills they have, saddled with a significant amount 

of debt, and no longer think that they can live the American 

Dream, or live the dream that their parents have been able to live. 

So I am trying to reconcile. Where does that optimism come 

from? Sometimes I think—I am wondering why there isn’t more 

outrage, more outrage on the part of a generation that has been 

robbed of the opportunity to live the American Dream? Robbed, 

frankly, by the older generations, of which I am part of. Maybe 

Representative Hanna would be close to it, anyway. Clearly the— 

and you, Mr. Meyer, said that there are government policies that 

have betrayed the younger generation, but, you said, not from any 

of us; it is from all of us. 
12 

It is from all of us who have held elective office and executive 

positions, and presidencies—I am not dividing between one party 

or another party. We have all failed dramatically to address the 

impact of running this country into ever more debt, of not making 

needed reforms to mandatory spending programs that are literally 

drying up all the—without determining any kind of priority, good, 

bad, or indifferent, in terms of policies that have been mentioned 

by all of you, unaffordable, unaffordable because so much of our 

spending now goes to mandatory entitlement programs, plus interest on our debt. 

And so you can talk all you want about—we can talk all we want 

about supporting students, more Pell Grants for this, more opportunities for that, more spending here, more education, et cetera et 

cetera. That is being squeezed every year by our refusal to address 

the main issues here. 

So I am wondering where that optimism comes from when these 

young people recognize that they are being robbed by older generations and, frankly, by their elected officials both in the Executive 

Branch and in the Legislative Branch that have refused to take 

steps necessary to address this problem and put them on a better 

path to living the American Dream. 

We all ought to be ashamed of ourselves for falling to groups like 

AARP and others who scare the heck out of older people, knowing 

that we are running this Nation over a cliff. And the biggest impact will be on the Millennials. 

Representative Stefanik. Thank you for the question. 

As a Millennial, I know I speak from personal experience that 

you can be frustrated simultaneous to feeling optimistic about the 

future of this country. 

There is no doubt that the issue of our national debt will rest on 

our generation’s shoulders. Today we know that our national debt 

is over $18 trillion. If we continue on this current trajectory, by 

2025 it will be over $27 trillion. This is an unsustainable debt load 

that will continue to hamper our generation’s ability to grow and 

create economic opportunity. 

But I did want to point to some of the other more hopeful indicators about Millennials. Millennials actually volunteer in historic 

numbers, but they feel very politically disengaged. And I am about 

half the average age of a Member of Congress. I think one of the 

lessons that I try to educate my colleagues in Congress is that we 

need to actively reach out to Millennials to make them a part of 

the conversation when we are making public policy. 

Millennials have come of age during a world of government gridlock, during a world of partisan bickering, and we need to do better 

about educating Millennials on how legislation that we are voting 

on today will impact their economic futures, and the choices economically that will be available to them. 

But we are still hopeful. We live in, you know, an amazing, 

changing economy right now with the information age and growing 

companies like Uber that six years ago did not exist. 

So I think that hope is those positive, disruptive ideas that are 

a result of supporting this empowerment economy with greater 

flexibility and increased entrepreneurship. 
13 

Chairman Coats. Thank you. Mr. Meyer, do you want to comment on that? 

Mr. Meyer. Yeah. I would just say I think what Millennials see 

is, even in the face of government inaction, private solutions driven 

by entrepreneurs that really excite them. 

For example, the Post Office still has the same monopoly that it’s 

always had, but we have allowed entrepreneurs to innovate around 

the Post Office so that we don’t really need it anymore. If we look 

at e-mail, or with private chains that are coming in and filling gaps 

in service, this is what is seen throughout the economy, especially 

as has been mentioned a few times, with Uber. Most cities still 

have in place their taxi cartels, where taxis get a special monopoly 

privilege on picking up customers. But Uber has made those effectively not matter anymore because it has an entirely different business model that has superceded the existing regulatory structure. 

So I think that is why young people are optimistic, and why they 

have such respect for entrepreneurs—not only that they want to be 

them themselves, but they realize the great benefits that they have 

brought to today’s economy. 

Chairman Coats. And, Ms. Mishory, I want to give you a 

chance to respond also. 

Ms. Mishory. I certainly agree with my panelists that young 

people are service oriented and volunteer at incredibly high rates, 

and are entrepreneurial. I do think a lot of the investments that 

we can think about making are really smart investments. 

So, for example, we did a report a couple of years ago looking at 

the cost of youth unemployment. It was actually costing the country $9 billion a year to have so many young people out of work. If 

we could actually scale up some of the innovations we have seen, 

and connecting young people to training and jobs that will get them 

working, that is actually going to help grow the economy and get 

folks back to work, and actually alleviate that cost. 

Chairman Coats. Well thank you. I want to urge all of you to 

continue to support that optimism, which means you need to put 

a lot of pressure on us who are making these policies on straightening out our debt so they have a better future and not burdening 

them down with regulations that are just no one can even begin 

to keep up with, so that they too can come to a point where they 

can have the same American Dream that we have had and that our 

parents have had, and many others who have sacrificed for the future of this country. We are not seeing that sacrifice right now— 

we don’t need more handouts, as you’ve said. In my opinion, we 

need more empowerment. We need to give you a reason to be optimistic. 

Congresswoman Maloney. 

Representative Maloney. Thank you so much, and welcome to 

all of the panelists, and especially Representative Stefanik who is 

from the Great State of New York that I also have the privilege 

of representing. And my late husband’s home was in your District, 

our family home was. So I am very familiar with that area and 

why you are so devoted to climate change and other environmental 

issues. 

I was very interested in your testimony that you chair the Task 

Force for Millennials for the Republican Majority, and your state-
14 

ments on flextime and how helpful it is for companies to look at 

it. And given the example of Uber that allows young mothers and 

students to work and also pursue their careers and their education 

and their children. 

So I would like to ask you to look at a bill that I have introduced 

with Senator Casey on flextime which follows the model of England, that allows flextime and is not mandatory but protects workers that approach their employers for flextime. I think it is flexible 

and good and could respond to the challenges that you pointed out 

in your testimony. 

Also I was interested in your support for climate change. You 

were an original co-sponsor of a resolution recently introduced in 

the House that noted the dangers of saddling future generations 

with costly economic and environmental burdens. And I would like 

to hear your thoughts on what should be done to address climate 

change. 

And isn’t failing to act on climate change imposing additional 

burdens and costs on your generation? 

Representative Stefanik. Sure. So I welcome the opportunity 

to review your legislation on greater flexibility in the workplace. So 

the concept that Uber discussed, as well as 

PricewaterhouseCoopers, I think that makes them unique is that 

they were essentially ideas that came from the workforce and the 

companies themselves. 

So PricewaterhouseCoopers talked about how they were able to 

model a flexible—you know, flextime that was responsive to what 

their workforce said they were looking for. So the needs of, for example, single parents are very different than students who are 

maybe pursuing their graduate degree, or taking extra classes outside. 

And I think the key for me is providing flexibilities for companies 

for policies that work to continue to promote Millennials and provide economic opportunity for Millennials to grow. 

In terms of my original co-sponsorship of the resolution related 

to climate change, I represent New York’s 21st District. The health 

of our environment is critically tied to the health of the economy. 

But in terms of policymaking, we have to find a balance in addressing this issue that is not crushing jobs and creating overly burdensome regulatory costs. 

I think we need to have this conversation going towards the future, but I believe it should not be just one-sided. And when I talk 

to Millennials, their key concern is getting a job in today’s economy. And we need to make sure policies and over-reaching rules 

are not crushing our jobs today. But that conversation needs to 

happen. 

Representative Maloney. I would say you represent one of the 

most environmentally beautiful Districts in the country, and I look 

forward to further conversations on these two issues. 

I would like to ask Ms. Mishory. The oldest Millennials were 27 

years old and beginning their careers when the Great Recession 

hit, and the impacts on their employment, income, and wealth have 

been painful. 
15 

How has the Great Recession affected the employment and earnings prospects of Millennials? And are these short or long term impacts on their careers? 

Ms. Mishory. Well the Recession certainly hit Millennials the 

hardest. And so we are seeing a generation who graduated at a 

time when they could not find work, and they could not find work 

at higher rates than other age groups. 

And research does show that those effects on wages can last for 

as long as 15 years, and perhaps even longer. So someone graduating at a time of recession will see that impact over time. 

So I do expect that those folks that have graduated during that 

time period will see that for a long time. 

Representative Maloney. And Millennials are also less likely 

to own their own homes, and more likely to live at home with their 

parents than previous generations. And is this explained, in part, 

by the difficult economy which they have inherited? 

Ms. Mishory. Sure. And folks ask that question a lot, and most 

young people do not want to be living at home when they are 25, 

26, 27. It is not a choice. I mean, we are talking about people who 

are trying to find work, trying to save up, and whether it is save 

up in the rental market that they happen to live, or to be able to 

purchase a home, I think those challenges are reflective of a confluence of issues. 

So we are seeing either declining or stagnant wages. We are seeing people that graduated during the Recession and could not find 

a job. And then we are seeing folks that have student debt. 

And we have seen poll after poll, study after study show that 

having student debt is impacting the housing market. And as I 

mentioned in my testimony, we are starting to quantify the billions 

of dollars in sales that it is actually holding people back from. 

So, absolutely. And I would say, finally, when it comes to home 

ownership, it is also a generation that saw their parents lose their 

homes, and I think are going to be perhaps a little bit more reluctant to jump into the market. 

Representative Maloney. My time has expired. Thank you. 

Chairman Coats. Thank you. 

Congressman Hanna. 

Representative Hanna. Thank you. 

As we know, we can agree that college is more a necessity than 

ever, but it is also a choice. College debt is a choice that people 

face, and a choice I think they have to make. 

And speaking of Uber, you may want to talk about this, Mr. 

Meyer, but right now the income from—for someone who runs a 

Uber business, they are asking that it become W–2 income. Are you 

familiar with that? I think that is in California, to be precise. 

But I want to ask you about something that Senator Coats referred to. And that is, this notion of intergenerational theft. Because while I agree with that, and I agree that we have this enormous debt and slow growth, a lot of what Ms. Mishory talked about 

would actually add to that, respectfully. Pell Grants have grown exponentially in the last few years to around, I think, $25 billion. 

And some of the other programs, the state-funded education, all 

of those kinds of things add ultimately to this problem. 
16 

So, I mean you have a bigger problem than we do, right, and we 

are piling on. So how do you reconcile that with—and how do you 

feel about the term ‘‘intergenerational theft’’? It is curious to me 

that we use that, because it is benefiting our parents—me, soon 

enough. Anyone? Elise? 

Representative Stefanik. Thank you, Congressman Hanna, 

and my good friend from Upstate New York. You know, I think our 

national debt and our budget crisis in this country is a 

generational issue. That is how I talk about it with my constituents, most of whom are seniors, and they fear for their kids and 

their grandkids’ future. 

I wanted to refer back to Senator Klobuchar’s initial statements 

that it is not only the national debt which is going to be a huge 

challenge for my generation, but it is also our savings crisis on an 

individual basis. The fact that Millennials are facing the crushing 

debt of students loans. They are pushing off pursuing home ownership. And they are not saving for the long term. 

We are going to be the generation that will, you know, hopefully 

be there to support our parents as they become seniors, and we will 

probably become caretakers and will have to make some of those— 

you know, will be making those decisions, but also, you know, providing the economic support for our parents as they live longer. 

So I think the savings crisis and promoting financial literacy, 

and promoting more awareness of Millennials of the importance of 

saving early will be beneficial. That is completely aside from our 

national debt, which of course is a generational issue. 

Mr. Meyer. Well, Congressman Hanna, I want to thank you for 

bringing that up because I actually just had a report released yesterday through the Manhattan Institute describing entitlement 

programs as programs that steal from younger, poorer Americans, 

and give to older wealthier Americans. 

And the reason we have not seen reform when it comes to entitlements is older Americans view it as if they deserve these benefits. But if you look at what a typical senior who retires between— 

or who retired between 2000 and 2010 will receive in Medicare, it 

is about three to seven times more than what they paid in, even 

taking into account the possibility that they would have gained investment income if they were allowed—— 

Representative Hanna. Over a third of the people on, say, Social Security represents about 90 percent of their income, so the alternative is to push them into abject poverty? 

Mr. Meyer. I don’t disagree with your number, but I think that 

is looking at the wrong picture. If we are looking at income, it is 

only looking at part of the picture of older Americans. 

Very few are working, so of course they are not receiving much 

income. But the wealth levels have grown drastically, if you look 

at young Americans versus older Americans. 

In fact, the average household wealth for a household headed by 

someone 65 years or older is 50 times greater than the average 

household wealth for a household headed by someone 35 or younger. And this was only 10 to 1 in the mid-1980s. 

So if we want to talk about increasing income inequality, the increase between the oldest Americans and the youngest is some-
17 

thing that we need to be looking at when we talk about entitlements. 

Representative Hanna. But, arguably, they had a lifetime to 

earn that, too. 

Mr. Meyer. Yes, but it has been increasing, about five times. 

Representative Hanna. Ms. Mishory, with 30 seconds left I 

have. 

Ms. Mishory. You know, I think that—I think that the word 

‘‘intergenerational theft’’ is not necessarily the way a lot of young 

people look at it. I think that it is worth thinking about these safety net programs. Young people are thinking about their parents, 

their grandparents, and themselves. So I think young people do 

take a more nuanced view to it. 

Representative Hanna. So it is a bigger crisis than just your 

generation. It is all of us. 

Ms. Mishory. And young people are generally supportive of ensuring that these social safety net programs are there in the long 

run, but also there for their parents as well. 

Representative Hanna. My time has expired. Thank you, 

Chairman. 

Chairman Coats. Congressman Beyer. 

Representative Beyer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And, Congresswoman Stefanik, so much of what we have been 

talking about is how government is messed up and created these 

conditions, and what government should do. And yet I heard this 

morning that only 12 percent of Millennials are registered to vote. 

By the way, old people are really good at voting. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. Meyer. Ms. Stefanik, what can we do to inspire people born 

between 1980 and 2000 to actually participate in the political process? 

Representative Stefanik. Thank you so much for the question. 

I think that particularly as Members of Congress we need to constantly reach out to Millennials, whether that is going to college 

campuses, whether it is going to training and development programs, preparing our workforce to talk to them about why policies 

are relevant. 

The other interesting statistic that is somewhat related is recently Time Magazine found a poll that 89 percent of Millennials 

are not interested in running for office in the future. 

This is, again, that disconnect between the historic numbers of 

volunteers among Millennials versus they do not connect that to 

public policy and the importance of making sure that their voice is 

heard. 

We need to change that as an institution. I am, you know, very 

concerned that unfortunately we will not have the best and brightest wanting to run for office at the local, state, or federal level, and 

we need that here today. 

I have been in Congress for less than a year, and we need the 

best minds possible from diverse backgrounds, from all across these 

very different districts to solve these generational issues we face. 

Representative Beyer. Thank you, Elise, very much. 

Ms. Mishory, Isabel Sawhill over at Brookings wrote a book last 

year about marriage in the United States, and said if you draw a 
18 

straight line by 2050 no one will get married in the country. And 

we are already seeing this right now. The generation of my kids, 

nieces and nephews, are all waiting and delaying. 

Should we be worried about this? What can government do about 

this? What does this mean for population growth in the years to 

come? 

Ms. Mishory. We are certainly seeing the data play that out. So 

young people tend to get married later, tend to have kids later. You 

know, I think that there may or may not be some cultural decisions, and sort of more having to do with the culture of this generation. But I also think there is a lot of economics going on here. So 

a lot of financial decision making and going back to the issues of 

student debt. 

We see over and over again young people telling us, polls telling 

us that people are delaying those major life decisions because they 

have debt. So they cannot save for that down payment. They cannot save to have a kid. We have talked to student debtors who 

say—there is one woman in particular who told us, you know, I 

found out I was having my first child and I couldn’t get excited because I didn’t know how I was going to afford it because I had all 

this student debt. 

And so it is really impacting young people in some very major 

ways. 

Representative Beyer. Great. Thank you. 

Mr. Meyer, I was fascinated by so many of the things that you 

said that I actually disagreed with, but I respect it. But you talked 

about barriers to entry. 

I was in the Virginia General Assembly for eight years and every 

business bill I saw for eight years created by business was to create 

a barrier to entry so that other businesses could not compete 

against them. 

So it is not government so much, necessarily, that is doing that 

but businesses themselves. For example, on credit, every person I 

talk to wants to borrow from a bank says as long as I don’t need 

the loan the bank will give it to me. They are sitting on enormous 

amounts of resources that they won’t lend out. 

Occupational licensing. We are a federal legislature. Occupational licensing is almost completely down at the state level. So 

should there be federal intervention on licensing? 

Mr. Meyer. First of all I couldn’t agree with you more than, 

more often than not, regulation has the fingerprints of big business 

on it. People who want to use the government to keep out new competition by raising the barriers—— 

Representative Beyer. Small business, too. 

Mr. Meyer. Yes, that’s true. But I would say, when we look at 

occupational licensing, this is something that I’m glad that President Obama is really taking the lead on where he’s released a 

framework for policymakers and also calling for the amount going 

to the states that institute successful reforms in his budget. 

I think it is something that has gotten so bad now—again, one 

in three workers needing government permission to work, up from 

one in 20 in the 1950s—that it does need some sort of federal involvement, or at least federal prodding, where we’re saying to 

states: You need to take a long, hard look at your list of licensed 
19 

occupations. And when you see things such as African hair braiders, or interior designers, or florists on that list, you need to take 

a look at who is being protected? Companies, or the public? 

Representative Beyer. And one last thought—thank you, very 

much. On the contractor issue, the six-part test, I think it is really 

important to see the other half of the story. Which is, employers 

who bring people on board to do a job full time and treat them as 

contractors just so they don’t have to pay benefits or Social Security, or Unemployment Compensation. 

At the same time, in virtually each of the six parts they actually 

are employees. And that is what they were trying to protect. 

Mr. Meyer. I would just say, looking at the rise of the sharing 

economy, this is something we need to encourage, the flexibility 

and individualized work model. And if it is allowed to go forward 

as it is stated right now, I think this will put a major threat towards the sharing economy’s business model. 

Representative Beyer. My friend, Senator Mark Warner, is 

worried about this a lot. The dilemma with the sharing economy 

is that, at the same time do you want to strip away rights that employees have had for more than 100 years in this country, to things 

like Social Security contributions? 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Coats. Congressman Paulsen. 

Representative Paulsen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to 

thank all of our panelists for being here today. It has been really 

good testimony. As the father of four daughters, two of whom are 

Millennials, this kind of strikes home. 

I am worried about the challenges they face. I am also optimistic 

about the opportunities that they have, and what their generation, 

and your generation can certainly achieve. 

As we have learned in this Committee, there are some challenges 

facing this generation for sure. It took five years just to reach the 

starting point in terms of making up for the number of jobs that 

were lost since the recession ended. That has never happened in 

our country’s history before, where it took that long. 

It is also the first time ever in an economic recovery where incomes have declined, median household incomes. So they have certainly got some challenges that they are facing as they enter the 

workforce, and as they’ve graduated and they have to retire student debt. 

Congresswoman Stefanik, let me just start here. I think you are 

uniquely qualified to answer this question. Your testimony covered 

some of the challenges and the opportunities facing Millennials 

generally. I am hoping you might also share your perspective specifically on the challenges and opportunities that Millennial women 

face, and what should we be doing here in Congress to help address 

some of those unique challenges? 

Representative Stefanik. That’s a great question. 

If you look at Millennials, women are the majority of college 

graduates today. That certainly was not the case if you look back 

to our parents’ generation. Also increasingly women are the primary bread winners in their families. 

So the economic decisions that are made by a family are increasingly made by women. I think that it is incredibly important as 
20 

policy makers to reach out to our female constituents, all of our 

constituents, but specifically talk to people who are making those 

decisions in a family, which is more and more falling on women’s 

shoulders. 

I know, you know, from a freshman Member of Congress perspective, much of the case work that I focus on in my District when 

I hear from seniors who are facing challenges related to Social Security, Medicare, or appointments through the VA, we usually hear 

from their adult daughter who is helping them go through the federal bureaucratic process, and they are trying to overcome some of 

the challenges that the Federal Government has placed in their 

way. 

So I think recognition of the growing importance of women in our 

economy today, that the broader economic success of women is directly correlated to the economic opportunity for our country’s future. 

Representative Paulsen. I will let all of you comment on this, 

because you have all mentioned how the workforce has changed 

significantly from the time when many of us were first entering it. 

Millennials entering the workforce hold very different priorities 

and values in terms of a flexible schedule and time off that some 

other generations did not care as much about. 

You talked about Uber and Pricewaterhouse for instance. In the 

House we passed the Working Families Flexibility Act, which will 

allow employers to offer private-sector employees time off in lieu of 

wages for overtime. 

Maybe each of you can give a comment about how should 

Millennials’ priorities guide our thinking as we consider other future legislative initiatives? 

Representative Stefanik. Yeah. So you’re referring to the 

Working Families Flexibility Act. I am a proud co-sponsor of that 

legislation introduced by Congresswoman Roby. 

I also think, you know, what I’ve learned in the Millennial Task 

Force from the perspectives of companies who are trying to attract 

and retain Millennials, it is the ability to create a program that is 

flexible to work within your company. 

So not this one-size-fits-all approach. Because if you have thousands of individuals in your workforce versus a small business like 

my family’s plywood distribution business, you are not going to be 

able to have the same government-mandated approach. I think we 

should be encouraging that flexibility for companies, again, to attract and retain Millennials. 

Representative Paulsen. Mr. Meyer. 

Mr. Meyer. One of the things I worry about when I see the new 

proposal to raise the overtime limits are that a lot of companies 

that don’t fit into the target are going to be affected. 

So what people are looking at mostly when they’re pushing to 

raise the overtime limit are fast food establishments. But they are 

forgetting about the large number of startups who often pay their 

employees in equity, and a few of them are paying entry-level employees over $50,000 a year. So now things, such as telecommuting, 

are going to take a hit. You’re going to have to keep much closer 

track on your employees and not have the option to offer flextime 
21 

or comp time in addition to working longer hours, which I know is 

something that young people are very interested in. 

Representative Paulsen. Ms. Mishory. 

Ms. Mishory. You know, I would certainly reflect similar comments on flexibility, young workers do value flexibility much more 

than previous generations. 

Young workers also tend to value the mission and really working 

for something they believe in. That might be sector agnostic. That 

doesn’t mean they need to work for a nonprofit. But really wanting 

to make sure that they are making a difference. And those types 

of things show up again and again in polling. 

I do think that as we’re talking about flexibility it is important 

to note specific issues facing young families and young parents. So, 

for example, access to paid leave, paid sick, to be able to take care 

of a child who gets sick and be able to also hold their job is critical 

for young families. 

Representative Paulsen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Coats. Thank you. Senator Cassidy. 

Senator Cassidy. I thought you were going to the other side. 

I’m sorry. 

Representative, thank you for instigating and inspiring this 

meeting. Thank you all. Frederich Hayek would be very pleased 

with your testimony, Mr. Meyer. The regulatory agency co-opted by 

the businesses. 

Let me ask you all. ‘‘The New York Fed recently pointed out how 

those in the lowest quantile of college graduates really don’t do 

that well, relative to those without a college education, in terms of 

income.’’ 

Now we have been hearing a lot about the burden of student 

loans. And to a degree it seems like everybody advocates greater 

transparency. The student who is taking on the debt should know 

this particular degree is more or less likely from this particular institution to usher me into prosperity, or to keep me chained to 

debt. With me? 

I am not really sure how to accomplish that. The Federal Government I think has just kind of thrown in the towel. So what are 

your all’s thoughts? Do you think there would be an appetite for 

that high school grad to be able to look on and see that St. John’s, 

if you graduate from there you’re going to be testifying before Congress, but perhaps some place maybe not? 

I open that up. 

Mr. Meyer. Well luckily the data is now publicly available, but 

it is not that accessible at this point. So you can look on the College 

Report Card, it’s actually something that came out about two 

months ago, a public database that the White House put together. 

Senator Cassidy. But as I gather, though, if you can go to one 

university and get a degree in gender studies and really have no 

option but maybe grad school, you hope, and from the same place 

get a degree in engineering and have six figures as your first job, 

I don’t think that database necessarily differentiates between programs within the same college. Am I correct on that? 

Mr. Meyer. There’s also been quite a wide variety of academic 

research where researchers have looked at Bureau of Labor Statistics data on this, because the government started asking for the 
22 

2010 Census what your major was. So people are actually able to 

see this now. 

But I would agree with you that it is not that accessible to the 

public, yet. So while it is out there, people in policy and people in 

government may be able to look at this, but your typical high 

school senior, they’re not going to be out pouring through these 

databases. So something to make that more accessible I think 

would be welcomed to try to turn around the—— 

Senator Cassidy. If it were accessible, would it therefore be 

accessed? 

Mr. Meyer. I think it would, because right now data that is 

often not mentioned is that 4 in 10 college freshmen still don’t 

graduate within 6 years. So we are pushing a lot of students into 

a 4-year college where they don’t know what they want to study, 

and they don’t realize that while college—— 

Senator Cassidy. That is a different issue than the quality of 

education. I mean, if you go to, you know, a for-profit which some 

are good but some are bad, and some are going to charge high tuition, et cetera, et cetera, and you are going to end up with a degree 

which is not worth very much, that is different from not knowing 

what degree you want to end up in. 

Mr. Meyer. That is true. 

Senator Cassidy. Well one is a lack of maturity, and the other 

is a lack of a quality option. 

Ms. Mishory. I do think we are still missing a lot of that data. 

So we do have more of the school-level data that was released in 

the last few months. We don’t have the program-level data, which 

is I think what you’re getting at, and information that would be 

critical. 

So when we hear from young people about how they are thinking 

about schooling and higher education, they are interested in finding a job, and they’re interested in bettering their lives. 

Senator Cassidy. So if you put a different question, if you go 

to this school with this degree, you’re more likely to have a job, and 

you’re more likely to have this sort of debt load, if you finish in 

four years, this if you finish in five, some sort of algorithm that 

they can plug in their plans? 

Ms. Mishory. Yeah. I mean we don’t provide that information 

right now, and we certainly don’t provide it in a way that is accessible for students and families to make decisions about. 

Senator Cassidy. Okay. 

Representative Stefanik. I serve on the Committee on Education and Workforce on the House side, and this is an issue—to 

answer your question—would young people access this information? 

Absolutely. I think greater transparency in the job opportunities 

after you graduate, what the median income over the next 5 or 10 

years, or even a lifetime would be, I think we would have 

Millennials looking into to pursue higher education degrees that 

will be more likely to lead to jobs. 

But I also think that we need to have a discussion about financial literacy when young people decide to take on these student 

loans so that they can connect their debt burden with their job potential afterwards with the data that you just recommended. 
23 

Senator Cassidy. Okay, so it is actually a little bit, for those 

who lack the maturity or the financial literacy, you can’t ensure 

that they would use this data accurately and adequately, but nonetheless the first thing is you have to provide the data. Fair statement? 

Representative Stefanik. I wouldn’t call it a lack of maturity. 

I would—— 

Senator Cassidy. No, I just say that because, believe me, I am 

very aware that some people start college and change majors three 

times. And they end up in what they really want to do from when 

they start, but maybe we are just defining it differently but we 

probably both know folks like that, huh? They think they want to 

be a doctor and they end up a lawyer, or vice versa. 

Representative Stefanik. And I think having that data about 

what, for example, their annual salary will be after they graduate, 

what percentage of graduates from a particular program are able 

to find jobs immediately or in the first three to six months, having 

that information will ensure better decision making for an individual’s future. 

I also think we need to rethink how we provide higher education 

today. So the average college student looks very different than the 

average college student of 20 years ago. They are slightly older. Oftentimes they are a single parent. Increasingly they are Veterans 

and therefore older. 

We want to encourage a faster, finishing your higher education 

degree faster than what you referred to, Mr. Meyer, as staying in 

college for six years. 

So one of the bills I have introduced is Flexible Pell, year-round 

Pell so that you not only can apply as a student for fall and spring 

funding, but that crucial summertime where you may want to continue pursuing your education so that you can graduate earlier and 

hopefully not to continue to increase your student loan debt. 

Senator Cassidy. Thank you. I yield back. 

Chairman Coats. Senator Heinrich. 

Senator Heinrich. Representative Stefanik, first off I want to 

thank you for your efforts on Flexible Pell. I share that view, and 

I think it is particularly important in states where we have a lot 

of nontraditional students who need to be in school in summer, and 

who need to finish as quickly as they can. So I would applaud your 

efforts on that front. 

I want to talk a little bit about the issue that came up earlier 

of climate change. You know, given the fact that we have—my generation and previous generations—have created this issue, which 

we are now shifting the burden for coming up with a solution 

squarely onto the Millennial Generation, and generations that 

come after Millennials like my kids, effectively of posing attacks on 

GDP productivity in the future. Oftentimes, as you know, that conversation you were talking about gets bogged down into regulatory 

and policy issues versus innovation and R&D issues. 

I am just curious if you have thoughts about what some of the 

private sector solutions are to addressing climate change that 

you’re excited about. 

Representative Stefanik. Sure. So in my District we have a 

number of exciting I think ways to help solve this generational 
24 

issue. One is biomass. Biomass is a growing sector in broadly the 

Northeast, but specifically in my District. It is affordable, and it 

helps address I think the long-term environmental challenges. 

I also think that, you know, one of the key points that I didn’t 

state before is, this is a global issue. This is not an issue that the 

United States can go it alone. We need to reach out to countries 

like China and India to make sure that they are a part of the solution. 

But I absolutely agree that we need to get beyond the issues of 

regulation and actually talk about where we can innovate, and 

where we can invest in research and development. 

Senator Heinrich. One of the interesting innovations that we 

have seen, and we were talking about how sometimes businesses 

like to put up barriers to new innovative businesses coming in and 

changing their business model. You know, I grew up in a utility 

family. My dad was a lineman. But utilities had a monopoly, and 

today we are seeing people become their own power generators, not 

only with distributed renewables but also by utilizing things like 

plug-in electric vehicles and other storage devices on the grid. 

Do you have any thoughts with regard to that particular dynamic 

and what sort of policies we should have in place to allow those innovations to continue to change the business model and change the 

market? 

Representative Stefanik. I think innovation is good for the 

economy. I think it is important to recognize as a country that, you 

know, the population density is very different. So I represent a 

very rural District. Many of my constituents are driving, you know, 

over an hour to and from work every day. So we don’t necessarily 

have the infrastructure to pursue that the way potentially urban 

districts are trying to pursue that type of innovation. 

But as a Millennial, I am a believer in innovation. I think that 

if the government gets out of the way, there are lots of ways to 

solve this issue in the private sector and with technology companies and renewable energy. 

Senator Heinrich. Thank you. Ms. Mishory, I want to sort of 

switch gears real quick, since we have the potential for seeing a 

highway bill emerge from the Congress in the future weeks. And 

one of my frustrations is that we have gotten away from basically 

paying for things. Around here it’s become more and more politically difficult for many of my colleagues to honestly pay for things. 

And not only are we not funding infrastructure, new infrastructure, brand-new infrastructure going forward at the rates that we 

need, but we are not even really having the decency to maintain 

all of the infrastructure that previous generations have built and 

given to us. 

And we have been coasting on that infrastructure for a long time. 

So how can Congress support and improve—let me back up. One 

example I’ll give you is there’s talk about how we’re going to pay 

for the current highway bill with things like, literally, asking community banks for a stake in paying for what is effectively a transportation infrastructure piece of legislation. 

So what should we be doing on the infrastructure front in a way 

that honors the previous investment that generations have made, 
25 

but at the same time providing the Millennial Generation with the 

foundation for success that they deserve? 

Ms. Mishory. So it’s interesting. We are actually running a series of roundtables with young workers in Houston, Texas. We have 

an office down there. To hear about the challenges they are facing 

in the workplace. So finding jobs, wages, et cetera. And this issue 

of infrastructure has come up because young people are actually 

having trouble getting to work, getting to interviews, being able to 

actually engage in the workforce because of the infrastructure 

problems that they are seeing. 

So I think it is an interesting issue that is impacting young people in a variety of ways. 

Chairman Coats. Thank you, Senator. Congressman 

Schweikert. 

Representative Schweikert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Can I pass down just a couple of these slides? And I lost my representative—oh, fine. The one question I had for her. 

[Laughter.] 

One of the reasons I’m passing out this chart, you know, we’ve 

had this discussion bounce back and forth, and I think the proper 

term is cross-generational wealth transfer—but how quickly some 

of these numbers, and what they do to your future position in the 

world. 

Mr. Meyer, when you hit—and I am going to assume right now 

today you are in the top tax bracket—when you hit my age, your 

tax bracket goes from 35 to 66 percent. And that is just your federal income tax. That may not be the supplements that are required to deal with Social Security, Social Security Disability, 

Medicare. And that is baked into the numbers. That is not one we 

get to fudge. That’s not one we get to walk away. 

So someone who is in college today, when they hit their peak 

earning years, their federal income tax will be double what ours 

are. And we have done this to the generation following us. And 

that is the basic math. 

And there is a question built in here, and that is: How do you 

activate Millennials particularly to understand the structural, you 

can call it the structural deficit, structural financial destruction in 

many ways our fiscal policies have done to them? 

A good example is—and I am going to, Mr. Chairman, without 

objection I would like to actually put this report into the record— 

I as a Baby Boomer when I retire, I am going to be about a quarter 

of a million dollars plus on the earned social benefits I receive. A 

Millennial, you are basically going to be about $180,000 upside 

down, where you are going to pay out more taxes by about 

$183,000 than you are going to receive. But when I hit Social Security/Medicare, I get a quarter of a million plus side. And this is 

what we have done structurally. 

Do you run into Millennials that understand what we have done 

to you? 

[The chart titled ‘‘Marginal Tax Rates Must Nearly Double to 

Fund Entitlement Spending’’ appears in the Submissions for the 

Record on page 61.] 
26 

Mr. Meyer. Millennials realize that Social Security especially is 

facing funding problems. And actually a majority of them don’t 

think they are going to get any money back at all, which isn’t true. 

But what is surprising is they still have pretty vast support for 

the program, because they realize that there are certain retirees 

who need—— 

Representative Schweikert. Do they support the concepts that 

we have to rebuild and redesign them almost immediately? 

Mr. Meyer. Yes, they do. Actually, over 7 in 10 Millennials view 

private accounts as something that should be pursued for Social 

Security. You can’t even find a group of 7 in 10 Republicans who 

hold this view. So Millennials realize something needs to change, 

and I am glad you brought up the tax increases. But what I found 

is the most effective way to show that young people are going to 

be paying a lot more for Social Security is bring up that if nothing 

changes, in 2050 people will be paying a 31 percent payroll tax. 

So ignoring the income tax, ignoring all your housing or rent 

payments, you are going to be losing almost a third of your hardearned income just to cover Social Security and Medicare. 

Representative Schweikert. You actually didn’t have to 

charge it to the payroll tax. 

Ms. Mishory. Certainly Millennials are interested in ensuring 

that Social Security is there in the long run. 

Representative Schweikert. But the real 10,000 pound gorilla 

here is actually not Social Security, it’s actually Medicare. 

Ms. Mishory. And I think when we look at polling to see where 

young people’s priorities are, there is support for those social safety 

net programs and ensuring that they are there for the long run, 

and ensuring that they are there for their parents. So I think there 

is interest in ensuring that those programs—— 

Representative Schweikert. But when you—but, I mean you 

hold forums and seminars, do you get feedback of any understanding of the scale? Okay, it is one thing to say I support there 

being the earned social, you know, entitlements, the social safety 

net—the understanding of the scale of how out of whack the numbers are? 

Ms. Mishory. Yeah, I do think that there is—and again, looking 

at polling and research data—there is certainly interest in ensuring that there are not benefit cuts. In the long run, that is the sort 

of research that we have seen, to make sure the programs are 

there for their parents and—— 

Representative Schweikert. But once again, how do you make 

that math work? I mean, at some point math is math. 

Ms. Mishory. Sure. I mean, I think that when young people are 

looking at how these programs will be here in the long run, looking 

at some modest changes to make sure that they’re there is something that, you know—— 

Representative Schweikert. Modest changes don’t shore it up, 

don’t come close. 

Okay, look, Mr. Chairman, obviously I am hoping the panel 

members get a chance to read over the report and some of the actual numbers. There is something very creative that this Committee could focus on. I know we care a lot about the earned social 
27 

entitlements being there in the future, but we are also entering the 

world of the new economy. 

Are we going to have to rethink how you fund these programs? 

If I live in the world as an Uber driver, is there a sliver on each 

Uber fare that goes to the social entitlement accounts? I mean, we 

are going to have to rethink the future, because the new economy, 

the hyper efficient economy where we are all carrying a super computer in our pocket, is changing things around us very, very fast, 

yet we still have sort of a 1930s mindset on how we fund, you 

know, these government programs. And I am hoping somewhere 

here, you know, one of the gentlemen on the end was being actually very creative in what the future should look like. I think we 

are going to all have to do that. 

And with that, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your patience. I 

yield back. 

Chairman Coats. Well thank you. This has been a most interesting subject, with a knowledgeable panel. We have a little bit of 

time, if any of the Members here have additional questions this is 

the time to ask them. 

Ranking Member Maloney. 

Representative Maloney. No. 

Chairman Coats. Congressman Beyer, everybody has got work 

to do. I think the most important thing I take away from this is 

that we need to delve into this, as Congressman Schweikert said, 

into a much more detailed hearing relative to how we are going to 

address this coming over-the-cliff fiscal situation and the impact 

that it is going to have on the younger generation. 

I am glad to hear that some of them are thinking about this. But 

when I hear things that young people are concerned about taking 

care of the older generation, it makes me say shouldn’t it be the 

other way around? Shouldn’t the older generation, which is benefiting way beyond what they have contributed, be worried about 

what is happening to the younger generation? 

So that is an issue that needs a lot further discussion. I want to 

thank our witnesses and panel for being here. Most interesting, 

and I will include Congresswoman Stefanik, as Millennials you certainly brought us a good deal of information and a good deal of 

knowledge, and we encourage you going forward in the future to 

help us work through these very challenging issues. 

With that, this Committee hearing is adjourned. 

(Whereupon, at 3:23 p.m., Wednesday, November 18, 2015, the 

hearing was adjourned.) 

(29) 

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD 
30 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL COATS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT ECONOMIC

COMMITTEE

The committee will come to order. 

I would like to welcome our witnesses and thank them for being here today to 

discuss important issues facing the Millennial generation. Generally defined as 

those between their late teens and early thirties, Millennials represent the largest 

generation in our country—as a percentage of the population and as a percentage 

of the workforce. 

Widely recognized as well-educated, tech-savvy, and confident, Millennials should 

be successful in our modern economy. However, as discussed in a report released 

by the Joint Economic Committee yesterday, today the Millennial generation faces 

unprecedented economic obstacles. Allow me to share a few: 

• Our economy continues to grow at an anemic pace, which has significant implications for Millennials entering the workforce. As noted by the Pew Research 

Center, the labor market recovery for Millennials has been ‘‘much less robust’’ 

compared to recoveries experienced by previous generations. 

• Millennials are receiving lower starting wages than previous generations, and 

their education also comes at a higher cost, saddling many Millennials with significant post-college debt obligations. 

• As we noted in a recent JEC hearing on higher education financing, higher student debt coupled with limited job prospects makes it difficult for many 

Millennials to take out a mortgage for a home. These same financial pressures 

also delay starting a family. 

• Growing government regulations continue to discourage entrepreneurship, particularly for younger workers. The number of people under 30 years old who 

own a private business has recently fallen to a 24-year low, down to 3.6 percent 

from over 10 percent in 1989. This is certainly a disturbing trend, and one 

which threatens the long-term health of our economy. 

• Finally, the federal government’s long-term fiscal challenges continue to cast an 

ominous shadow over Millennials’ futures. Our federal debt is approaching $19 

trillion, of which each Millennial owes a share. 

• For all the taxes that Baby Boomers and older generations have paid into the 

Social Security and Medicare systems, they will benefit, on balance, over their 

lifetimes. However, Millennials have no shot at receiving fair value for the taxes 

they pay into a system rigged for intergenerational theft. 

This leaves Millennials to question not only the feasibility of upward economic 

mobility and eventual retirement, but to question whether the American Dream will 

be attainable for them at all. Because federal policy has either created or worsened 

many of the most pressing challenges facing Millennials, Congress has a responsibility to address them. 

I look forward to hearing today from our distinguished panel of Millennial witnesses on ways we can create greater economic opportunity for their peer group. I 

would like to thank, in particular, Representative Elise Stefanik (Steh-FAWN-ick) 

for joining us today to offer her perspective. 

With that, I now recognize Ranking Member Maloney for her opening statement. 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, A U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased the Committee is discussing Millennials’ 

Voices and the American Dream. 

I would like to submit my questions for the record. 

I would like to welcome all of the witnesses here with us today. And I know that 

Representative Stefanik has a Minnesota connection having worked for former Governor Pawlenty’s presidential run in the last election. 

I believe the issues Millennials are facing reflect the changing nature of work in 

an on-demand economy. That’s why I will be holding a summit in Minnesota next 

Tuesday, November 24th. I also recently held a Steering and Outreach Committee 

meeting on this issue. 

In that meeting and in your testimony, I have heard that while the Millennial 

generation is the most educated generation and has access to technology, they are 

still concerned about student loan debt. I have also heard about the possibilities of 

the gig economy, and the concerns about access to paid sick leave and paid family 

and medical leave and the ability to save for retirement. 

As our economy changes, we need to put in place policies that continue to support 

the middle class so that the Millennials will have every opportunity to achieve the 

American Dream. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY, RANKING MEMBER, JOINT

ECONOMIC COMMITTEE

Thank you Chairman Coats for calling today’s hearing. 

Millennials are central to our Nation’s economic, social and cultural vitality. They 

are the largest generation—bigger than the Baby Boomers—approximately 88 million people. They are also the most educated and racially diverse generation in U.S. 

history. 

But Millennials face significant challenges—in many ways far greater than those 

experienced by the Boomers. Millennials generally have higher rates of unemployment, lower incomes and more student debt. Many Millennials have had no choice 

but to delay getting married, buying a home and saving for retirement. 

LASTING EFFECTS OF BUSH-ERA RECESSION

These challenges were greatly magnified by the Bush-era ‘‘Great Recession.’’ The 

recession was an economic catastrophe that deeply hurt many Millennials and will 

have a lasting impact on them. 

THE RECOVERY HAS BENEFITED MILLENNIALS

We have come a long way since the darkest days of the recession. The economy 

continues to recover, the overall unemployment rate has been cut in half, and businesses have added jobs for 68 consecutive months, the longest streak on record. 

Millennials have benefited substantially from this recovery. Unemployment is 

down and wages are beginning to move up. This year’s college graduates will likely 

enter the best job market in years. 

MILLENNIALS FARE POORLY IN COMPARISON TO THE BABY BOOMERS

Yet significant problems remain. 

It is useful to compare what Millennials are experiencing today to what the Baby 

Boomers experienced a generation ago. 

EDUCATION

Many Baby Boomers with only a high school education could afford to buy a 

house, raise a family, save for retirement and pass something on to their kids. But 

most Millennials will need a college degree to come close to matching that success— 

and will struggle longer to achieve it. 

STUDENT LOANS

The question is how to pay for it. 

The real median income for those households headed by a 25- to 34-year old has 

fallen by nearly 10 percent in the past 15 years. 

So more young people have been forced to borrow money to go to college. The 

share of households headed by someone under age 35 with student loan debt has 

more than doubled since 1989. 
37 

And they borrow more money too—with median debt tripling during the same period. Some Millennials will end up paying back loans well into their 30s, 40s and 

even 50s. 

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HOUSING

And because so many Millennials leave college with student debt, they don’t have 

the money for a down payment for a first home. Homeownership for those under 

35 years old has declined and is now about 2 percentage points below its average 

in 1994. 

Young people are even returning home to live with their parents. The Pew Research Center finds that a larger share of women 18 to 34 years old are living at 

home (36 percent) than at any time since 1940, when these statistics were first collected. And the share of men is even higher. 

POLICIES TO SUPPORT MILLENNIALS

I hope we can use the hearing today to not only understand the scope of these 

problems but to also focus on solutions. 

For guidance, let’s look at the first rule of medicine—do no harm. 

Let’s start with education. Should we force students to rely on private student 

loans that are more costly and come with fewer consumer protections? No—the 

truth is that Millennials cannot afford it. 

What about government spending? Should we slash spending so we have a smaller government that provides fewer services? Fifty-three percent of Millennials oppose that approach. 

Let’s turn to health care. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, uninsured rates for 

younger Millennials have been cut in half, as those under the age of 26 are now 

able to stay on their parents’ plans as well as utilize exchanges across the country. 

Should we cave to efforts to repeal the health care law? Of course not. 

Millennials make up approximately seven in 10 workers who earn at or below the 

minimum wage. Should we allow the right wing to block efforts to increase the minimum wage? Clearly, no. 

Should we privatize Social Security? No, instead let’s come together to pass modest measures to make sure that it will be strong when Millennials need it. 

Should we roll back consumer financial protections that help protect Millennials 

from predatory practices? Some call this ‘‘cutting red tape.’’ I call it dangerous. 

But it’s not enough to block destructive actions that hurt Millennials. We must 

focus on targeted actions that will help them. 

I will mention only a few. 

We need to make college more affordable by strengthening federal and state support for higher education, making tuition free at community colleges and increasing 

investments in Pell Grants. 

We need family friendly policies so Millennial parents can make a living and raise 

their kids. 

Let’s repair our Nation’s roads and bridges to lay the groundwork for a stronger 

economy. If we don’t do it now, Millennials will pay a very steep price down the 

road. 

And let’s not ignore what will perhaps be the greatest challenge of our time—climate change. We must fight those who claim that climate change is a ‘‘hoax.’’ Failing to address climate change would leave an unimaginable burden on Millennials 

and future generations. 

CONCLUSION

The challenges facing Millennials are real, but the solutions exist. Our job is to 

help chart the course forward. 

Let me close by saying that it’s wonderful to have on our panel a colleague from 

the House and member of the New York delegation. Elise, welcome. I look forward 

to your perspective and to the testimony of each of our witnesses today. 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD FOR MR. JARED MEYER SUBMITTED BY REPRESENTATIVE

MALONEY AND RESPONSES

Mr. Meyer, you testified that average household wealth for a household 

headed by someone 65 or older is about 50 times the average wealth of a 

household headed by someone 35 or younger. You also noted this is a significant increase from the mid-1980s, when senior citizens held only 10 

times the wealth of younger households. Those are staggering numbers. 

It seems intuitive that older households will have accumulated much 

greater home equity than younger households. How do the wealth ratios 

change if home equity is excluded? 

In 2011, excluding home equity, the median net worth of households headed by an adult under the age of 35 was $4,151. In that same year, excluding home equity, 

the median net worth of households headed by someone 65 years and over was 

$27,322. Looking at recent retirees (65 to 69 years old), the median net worth excluding home equity was $43,921. 

I’m also curious if the ratios have changed as the economy has recovered 

and Millennials have added to their wealth. What do the most recent data 

show? 

The most recent Census data are from 2011. In that year, households headed by an adult under the age of 35 had a median net worth of $6,682, and households 

headed by someone 65 years or over had a median net worth of $171,135. The median wealth levels for all age brackets increased from 2009 to 2011, but the level 

for households headed by someone under the age of 35 increased by nearly 100 percent. Still, the ratio between young and elderly households was 1:26 in 2011, compared to 1:10 in 1984. 

We discussed the challenges for Millennials of being saddled with a growing national debt. But there are other types of debt that get passed on from 

one generation to the next, which impose real costs on young people. For 

example, doing nothing about roads that are falling apart and bridges that 

are falling down assigns enormous costs to future generations. Putting off 

needed infrastructure maintenance is both risky and costly. 

In your view, what are the costs of delaying investments in crumbling infrastructure? Who is likely to absorb those costs? How does failing infrastructure affect our economy and U.S. competitiveness? 

While it is uncontroversial that America’s federal, state, and local infrastructure 

needs improved maintenance, some estimates of the problem are overstated. For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers givers the United States on a whole 

a ‘‘D+’’ for its overall infrastructure. It also designates 11 percent of U.S. bridges 

as ‘‘structurally deficient.’’ Though this term sounds dangerous, it does not mean 

that there is any particular risk of failure. It is not surprising that an organization 

of civil engineers desires $3.6 trillion of spending on infrastructure projects by 2020. 

Standing in contrast to these findings are those of the World Bank. In 2014, The 

United States ranked fifth in the world for the quality of trade and transportation 

related infrastructure, behind only Germany, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Norway. 

Cost overruns for publically funded transportation projects contribute to declines 

in the quality of America’s infrastructure. According to Bent Flyvbjerg, Mette 

Kamris Holm, and Soren Buhl, the average cost overrun for large public transportation projects is nearly 28 percent. Since there are limited funds to spend on infrastructure improvements, it is important for policymakers to ensure that the cost estimates are more accurate and are provided under a wider range of assumptions. 

The cost of infrastructure projects should also more closely align with the users. 

Technology has made tolls much more efficient, and express lanes that charge higher fares during times of high congestion are another solution to funding challenges. 

Additionally, with increased access to low-cost airfares, it makes little sense for 

train routes to remain subsidized, especially Amtrak’s long-distance routes. Shifting 

the burden of paying for projects from taxpayers to users would create incentives 

for funding projects that make economic sense. 

What should policymakers do to ensure that Millennials don’t get stuck 

picking up the bill for infrastructure investments that our country should 

be making now? 

Moving a greater portion of infrastructure funding and spending to the state level 

or private sector would be a welcome step towards maintaining America’s transportation system. The problems with federally-funded infrastructure investment are 
63 

shown by the Highway Trust Fund. The federal gas tax has stayed at 18.4 cents 

since 1993. This has not kept pace with inflation, and increased fuel efficiency 

means that vehicles are driving more miles for each dollar paid in taxes. As vehicles 

continue to become more fuel efficient, state-level actions to move towards a vehicle 

miles traveled tax, such as the pilot program seen in Oregon, can help to sustain 

transportation funding. 

The Davis-Bacon Act is an 84-year-old law that makes the cost of federally funded 

infrastructure projects more expensive. The prevailing wage requirement also prices 

lower-skilled construction workers out of federally-funded projects in some highly 

unionized areas. To fund infrastructure maintenance and improvement at a reasonable cost, the Davis-Bacon Act’s prevailing wage requirements should be reevaluated. 

You testified about occupational licensing and some of the challenges associated with different licensing requirements across states as well as the 

fact that some professions, such as interior designers and tour guides, are 

licensed in some states, but perhaps don’t need to be. You lauded President 

Obama’s effort to support states that introduce common-sense reforms of 

their occupational licensing practices. Varying licensing requirements in 

different states and the lack of transferability across states can be especially costly for those who move regularly because of a spouse’s or partner’s job. 

Can you point to research that analyzes the economic costs of states’ occupational licensing? Are you aware of research that analyzes the impact 

of licensing on entrepreneurship? 

Some of the best research on the economic effects of occupational licensing has 

been done by University of Minnesota economics professor Morris Kleiner. He also 

offers useful solutions to scale back occupational licensing laws. Below are some of 

his articles that I have found helpful. 

Morris M. Kleiner and Alan B. Krueger, ‘‘Analyzing the Extent and Influence of 

Occupational Licensing on the Labor Market,’’ Journal of Labor Economics 31, no. 

2 (April 2013), pp. 173–202. 

Morris M. Kleiner, ‘‘Reforming Occupational Licensing Policies,’’ The Brookings 

Institution, January 2015. 

As for the effect on small business owners, Thumbtack.com, in partnership with 

the Kauffman Foundation, releases an annual survey of small business owners. Licensing requirements were the most important issues in determining a state’s overall friendliness to small businesses. 

Jon Lieber and Sander Daniels, ‘‘2015 Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey: Methodology & Analysis,’’ Thumback.com, June 2015, (email Jon 

Lieber at jon.lieber@thumbtack.com for a copy of the paper). 

To understand the scope and scale of licensing on a state-by-state level, the best 

resource is The Institute for Justice’s License to Work report. The report shows 

which states license 102 low- or moderate-income occupations, along with the average monetary and time burdens each license requires. 

Dick M. Carpenter II et al., ‘‘License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from 

Occupational Licensing,’’ Institute for Justice, May 2012, p. 16. 

Do you agree with Representative Beyer’s statement that excessive licensing and other regulations often result from the efforts of businesses 

trying to gain advantage over their competitors? What should be done at 

the state or federal level to limit the impact of businesses seeking competitive advantage through the licensing process? 

Yes, I agree that many regulations are passed because large, established businesses want to raise barriers to entry and reduce competitive threats. Since occupational licensing and many other anti-competitive regulations are a state and local 

issue, there is not much the federal government (outside of the judicial branch) can 

do directly. However, offering incentives to states that institute common-sense licensing reforms, as President Obama has proposed, is a welcome start. 

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD FOR MS. JENNIFER MISHORY FROM CONGRESSWOMAN

CAROLYN B. MALONEY, RANKING MEMBER, AND RESPONSES

Ms. Mishory, with states cutting support for higher education, too many 

students have been forced to take on too much debt. As you stated in your 
64 

1 Jeffrey Sparshott, ‘‘Congratulations, Class of 2015. You’re the Most Indebted Ever (For 

Now),’’ The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2015, http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/08/congratulations-class-of-2015-youre-the-mostindebted-ever-for-now/. 2 ‘‘No Causal Link between Federal Student Aid and Higher Tuition,’’ The Institute for College 

Access and Success, October 8, 2015, http://ticas.org/sites/default/files/pdf/ nolcausalllinklbetweenlfederallstudentlaidlandlhigherltuition.pdf. 3 ‘‘U.S. Department of Education, ‘‘Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request: Student Financial Assistance.’’ http://1.usa.gov/1E8G0Mv. Page Q–20. 4 ‘‘Pell Grants Help Keep College Affordable for Millions of Americans, The Institute for College Access and Success, March 13, 2015, http://ticas.org/sites/default/files/publfiles/overalllpelllone-pager.pdf. 5 Ibid. 

6Lucy Lazarony, ‘‘Private Student Loans: What to Watch Out For,’’ Credit.com, August 24, 

2010, https://www.credit.com/loans/student-loans/student-articles/private-student-loans-whatto-watch-out-for/. 7 ‘‘Federal vs. Private Loans’’ Young Invincibles, October 2, 2012, http://younginvincibles.org/ 

federal-vs-private-student-loans/. 

testimony, almost 70 percent of graduates of public and nonprofit colleges 

in 2014 had student debt, and that debt averaged about $29,000. I’d like to 

get your thoughts on proposals to make higher education more affordable. 

• What impact would restricting access to federal student loans have on 

Millennials? 

• How about cuts to Pell Grants? 

• What would be the impact of increasing the market share of private 

student loans? 

• How do consumer protections differ between federal and private student loans? 

The Federal Direct Loan program is an essential tool to ensure that Millennials 

have access to institutions of higher education, and restricting access to that program would damage Millennials’ ability to pursue the credentials they need to succeed in a 21st century economy. Millions of young people rely upon loans to complete the financial aid package they need to attend school, as evidenced by the fact 

that 71% of 2015 bachelor’s degree recipients graduated with student loan debt.1

Limiting access to that assistance for undergraduates is likely to have long-term 

negative consequences on attainment rates and the skills gap we face. Loans should 

always be the final, not first, piece of a financial aid package for students, and students should be educated about the requirements—but claims that increasing financial aid access have driven up tuition lack conclusive evidence, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.2 Limiting access more than we already do 

would cut off opportunities for low- and moderate-income college students. 

Even more important for low-income students is access to Pell Grants, a program 

that has made college possible for millions of Americans without requiring young 

people to take on debt.3 Pell increases college enrollment among low- and middleincome students, and a majority of African-American and Hispanic undergraduates 

rely on Pell to go to school.4 Despite a proven track record of success, the purchasing 

power of Pell has declined over time as college has become more expensive, making 

it vital that we scale investments in the program to ensure low- and middle-income 

students can begin and complete their degrees.5

The result of restricting Pell grant or student loan access could be cutting off access to higher education for some students and also to increase reliance on private 

student loans, since they would be the lender of last resort for many young people 

trying to access or remain in school.6 This would add complexity to a system that 

already offers several types of loans and aid that students have trouble discerning 

among, and move students into private markets that charge higher interest rates 

than federal loans, raising debt levels. Moreover, private loans routinely lack essential consumer protections like deferment, forbearance, and income-based repayment 

plans with forgiveness options, which are essential to providing relief on payments 

when a borrower’s earning power is low.7

Since 2010, Millennials have been able to remain on their parents’ health 

insurance until they turn 26 years old. Before the Affordable Care Act 

(ACA), young adults would often lose coverage when they turned 19 or finished college. The uninsured rate among individuals ages 19 to 25 has been 

cut in half since passage of the ACA. In other words, a larger share of 

Millennials now have health care coverage. 

• What are some of the benefits of a greater percentage of Millennials 

being insured? Does this have an impact on their health? On overall 
65 

8Sara R. Collins, Elise Gould, Bisundev Mahato, Jennifer L. Nicholson, Sheila D. Rustgi, and 

Cathy Schoen, ‘‘Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies 

Can Help, 2009 Update,’’ The Commonwealth Fund, vol. 64 (August 2009). http:// 

www.commonwealthfund.org//media/Files/Publications/Issue%20Brief/2009/Aug/ 

1310lnicholsonlriteloflpassagel2009.pdf. 9Michelle Castillo, ‘‘Millennials are the most stressed generation, survey finds,’’ CBS News, 

February 11, 2013, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/millennials-are-the-most-stressed-generationsurvey-finds/. 10Sally H. Adams, Claire D. Brindis, Charles E. Irwin, Tina Paul Mulye, M. Jane Park, ‘‘The 

Health Status of Young Adults in the United States,’’ Journal of Adolescent Health, no. 39 

(2006). http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/healthstatus.pdf. 11Sara R. Collins, Ruth Robertson, Tracy Garber, Michelle M. Doty, ‘‘Young, Uninsured, and 

in Debt: Why Young Adults Lack Health Insurance and How the Affordable Care Act Is Helping,’’ The Commonwealth Fund, June 2012, http://www.commonwealthfund.org//media/files/ 

publications/issuebrief/2012/jun/1604lcollinslyoungluninsuredlinldebtlv4.pdf. 12Linda J. Blumberg, Sabrina Corlette, and Kevin Lucia, ‘‘The Affordable Care Act: Improving 

Incentives for Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment, Timely Analysis of Immediate Health 

Policy Issues,’’ The Center on Health Insurance Reforms, et al., May 2013, http://www.rwjf.org/ 

content/dam/farm/reports/issuelbriefs/2013/rwjf406367. 13 Ibid. 

health care costs? Have you heard directly from Millennials on how the 

ACA has helped them—if so, please share a few examples. 

• Have we also seen a reduction in job lock for Millennials—where 

Millennials are able to switch jobs without being worried about losing 

health insurance? How can this affect their careers and future success? 

Higher insurance rates among young people boost the long-term health of this 

generation and help protect us from financial pitfalls. Young people need access to 

affordable health care services: about 15 percent of young adults have chronic conditions,8 young women in particular need access to preventive care, and 19 percent 

of Millennials have reported suffering from depression, making access to mental 

services particularly important.9 Insurance coverage protects against high out of 

pocket costs when accessing this care, and encourages young people to proactively 

seek these services when they need them. And new ACA-compliant plans are required to offer both mental health services and preventive care. As a result, the ultimate impact on increasing insurance rates on the health of this generation could 

be enormous. 

But insurance also protects against even larger potential financial calamity. 

Young people tend to end up in the emergency room more than any other age group 

under the age of 75,10 resulting in costs that can be devastating. It should not be 

surprising then that over half of uninsured young people say that they have problems with medical bills or are paying off medical debt that could have been avoided 

had they had insurance.11 Enrollment in plans that cap out of pocket costs reduces 

the number of young people facing these kinds of bills and debt. 

Additionally, research has shown that as many as 1.5 million people will be released from job lock and able to work independently due to the ACA.12 According 

to the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, the Robert 

Wood Johnson Foundation, and Urban Institute, that figure is primarily because of 

the non-discrimination and financial assistance portions of the law.13 Being freed 

from the tether of employer-provided health insurance can allow many Millennials 

who want to start small businesses a way to work toward achieving that goal. 

We have seen numerous young people benefit from the ACA in these ways. In 

Austin, Texas, we spoke with Kim D., a young entrepreneur, working to start her 

own marketing firm. Without employer-based insurance, Kim didn’t have access to 

affordable health care until the ACA. Kim enrolled on the marketplace in the first 

open enrollment period, and was able to continue pursuing her dream without relying on health care from her job. Without this kind of freedom, Kim may have abandoned her small business for more traditional work—stifling her creativity and the 

boost she brings to the economy. In other cases, we have seen the ACA save lives. 

Hristina R. of DC was constantly denied health coverage because of a brain tumor 

before the ACA. In early 2014, she gained health insurance for the first time in 

years. A mere few weeks after getting covered, Hristina started experiencing alarming symptoms and decided to head to the emergency room. Hristina had to have 

emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy—a condition that could have taken her 

life. Having health insurance not only allowed her the ability to seek care, she also 

avoided a medical bill that could have reached as high as $30,000. The financial and 

health benefits provided by the ACA to Millennials like Kim and Hristina have been 

life changing, and emphasize the importance of preserving the law. 
66 

1 Josh Zumbrun, ‘‘Younger Generation Faces a Savings Deficit,’’ The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2014, http://www.wsj.com/articles/savings-turn-negative-for-younger-generation1415572405. 2Drew DeSilver, ‘‘For most workers, real wages have barely budged for decades,’’ Pew Research Center, October 9, 2014, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/09/for-mostworkers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/; Derek Thompson, ‘‘Millennials’’ $2000 

Poorer Than Their Parents Were at the Same Age,’’ The Atlantic, http://www.theatlantic.com/ 

business/archive/2015/01/young-adults-poorer-less-employed-and-more-diverse-than-their-parents/385029/. 3 Emily Hong, ‘‘Making It Work: A Closer Look at the Gig Economy,’’ Pacific Standard, October 23, 2015, http://www.psmag.com/business-economics/making-it-work-a-closer-look-at-thegig-economy. 

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD FOR MR. JARED MEYER SUBMITTED BY SENATOR AMY

KLOBUCHAR AND RESPONSES

APPRENTICESHIPS

Mr. Meyer, the apprenticeship program in Minnesota—the PIPELINE 

program—is a national model for workforce development and post-secondary education. This program began by determining standards in four 

high-growth industries—health care, information technology, advanced 

manufacturing and agriculture. The goal of this part of the program is to 

establish standardized and portable credentials that are transferable from 

employer to employer. 

• In your testimony you discussed the lack of transferability of credentials. How 

would standardized and transferable credentials benefit the workforce and entrepreneurs? 

Due partly to federal student aid (see my testimony ‘‘The Unprecedented Debt 

Burdens Facing Millennials’’ submitted to the House Budget Committee on September 9, 2015), the cost of four-year college has risen drastically. Thankfully, the 

United States has an extensive network of affordable community colleges. As long 

as the credits gained at community colleges are transferable to four-year colleges, 

students have a more affordable path to a bachelor’s degree. 

Technical schools also offer promising paths to employment in in-demand fields. 

Working with businesses to develop curriculum that enables graduates to stay on 

top of their skills, as Minnesota’s PIPELINE Project does, is a welcome step towards 

filling the technical skills gap. 

The modern economy is changing rapidly, and skills learned in school alone fail 

to prepare American workers for success. Education has always been a life-long 

process, but it is even more necessary today. In addition to partnering with employers to inform curriculum and encourage training, accreditation of successful online 

education platforms is another policy solution that deserves attention. 

QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD FOR MS. JENNIFER MISHORY SUBMITTED BY SENATOR

AMY KLOBUCHAR AND RESPONSES

RETIREMENT SAVINGS

Ms. Mishory, we have all heard that Americans are not saving enough for 

retirement—that there is a savings crisis. In your testimony, you point out 

that Millennials have saved less at this point in their lives than previous 

generations. 

• What policies would help Millennials increase their savings rate? 

• The increasing burden of student loan debt is hurting the ability of 

many Millennials to save. What other barriers are limiting the ability 

of Millennials to save? How can we address those barriers? 

There are number of factors that seem to be driving the negative savings rate 1

held by Millennials. We have seen lower wealth accumulation following wage stagnation and the lasting impact of the Great Recession (which hit youth employment 

levels the hardest).2 We have also seen a well-documented, staggering increase in 

the amount of student loan debt held by young people today, which means more 

money is going to pay down debt rather than save for the future. And the increase 

in part-time and contract work, including the most recent rise in the more flexible 

‘‘gig’’ economy, has combined with the decline of traditional pension and benefit 

plans to create the need to rethink traditional retirement account structures and 

savings vehicles.3
67 

4 Chuck Marr and Chye-Ching Huang, ‘‘Strengthening the EITC for Childless Workers Would 

Promote Work and Reduce Poverty,’’ Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, February 20, 2015, 

http://www.cbpp.org/research/strengthening-the-eitc-for-childless-workers-would-promote-workand-reducepoverty. 5See generally, myRA, https://myra.gov. 6 Ibid. 

Tackling these challenges is critical. Certainly policies that help low- and moderate-income young people build wealth, such as reasonable increases to the minimum wage, an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit to childless individuals 

under 25 years of age,4 or reducing barriers to getting a degree in growing fields 

with growing salaries, can all help. Additionally, reducing student debt burdens by 

expanding income-based repayment plans and including tax-free forgiveness, increasing uptake in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and providing refinancing options packaged with consumer protections, would all go a long way toward freeing 

up income that could be saved by young people. 

We are also at a critical juncture in rethinking workplace retirement policies, 

given the decreased access to benefits and changing workplace. Incentivizing businesses to offer tax-free benefit plans and contribute to their employees’ retirement 

accounts is a start, but other policies to help young people access these options may 

be needed (see below). 

You also noted in your testimony that Millennials have more job mobility 

than previous generations. Recently, the Treasury Department launched 

their myRA plan to help workers who do not have a retirement savings 

plan at their work. This account would move with the worker from job to 

job. 

• What are your thoughts on this account? What policies would improve 

these accounts? 

• How can we make retirement savings plans more portable? 

MyRA is a welcome foray into the area of portable retirement savings. It allows 

individuals with a relatively low level of income and without access to an employersponsored retirement plan to put away some money when they otherwise may not 

be saving.5 The $25 initial deposit and low semi-monthly contribution requirement 

make savings more of a reality, and the flexibility of rolling over those funds into 

a Roth IRA at any time is also a strong feature of the account.6 Some have suggested future changes such as diversifying investment opportunities for higher returns or financial incentives like tax credits to get more businesses to sign up and 

offer myRAs. 

GIG ECONOMY

Ms. Mishory, in your testimony you note that one of the trends we’re seeing with the Millennial generation is a shift to part-time, temporary and 

contract-based employment. For some the flexibility of moving from ‘‘gig’’ 

to ‘‘gig’’ is something they chose. For others, this is a result of changing employment patterns. 

• With this shift, what policies can we put in place for American workers 

to help with changing employment patterns? How could we help workers earn paid sick leave or paid family and medical leave in an economy with changing employment patterns? 

• What policies would help Millennials save for a rainy day or their retirement? 

As individuals continue to pick up part-time, on-demand, ‘‘gig’’ economy work, it’s 

vital that benefits associated with that work travel with them as much as possible. 

That includes retirement accounts and health care benefits as provided by new options like myRA and the individual ACA exchanges, but also encouraging employers 

to offer programs of their own for ‘‘gig’’ employees. It is also time to review how we 

classify these employees to address the legal uncertainty in the market and preserve 

protections and benefits for workers. 

Paid sick leave and paid family leave are critical policies that provide financial 

stability for young workers, and Young Invincibles supports the FAMILY Act and 

the Healthy Families Act to create these policies nationwide. We have also seen innovations on the state level. In Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California, paid family leave is administered through the state and funded by employees, so individuals 
68 

7 ‘‘State Family Leave Insurance Laws,’’ National Partnership for Women and Families, February 2015, http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/paid-leave/statepaid-family-leave-laws.pdf. 8 ‘‘The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act,’’ National Partnership for Women and Families, March 2015, http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/paidleave/family-act-fact-sheet.pdf. 9 ‘‘Paid Sick Days: Good for Business, Good for Workers,’’ National Partnership for Women and 

Families, August 2012, http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/psd/ 

paid-sick-days-good-for-business-and-workers.pdf. 10Tom Anderson, ‘‘Is Your State Getting Into the Retirement Business?,’’ CNBC, June 9, 2015, 

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/09/is-your-state-getting-into-the-retirement-business.html. 11Trent Gillies, ‘‘Retirement Options Dwindle and States Step In. But Should They?,’’ CNBC, 

November 8, 2015, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/06/retirement-options-dwindle-and-statesstep-in-but-should-they.html. 

can access it on their own.7 These programs have shown to increase economic security for new families, improve health outcomes, and benefit businesses through increased employee loyalty and reductions in turnover.8 Paid sick leave laws have also 

spread—now to four states and 20 cities—and have similar benefits for workers and 

employers.9 It is critical that state and federal policy conversations consider parttime and contingent workers when pursuing these reforms, and turn to employers 

to ask for financial contributions given the benefits to their businesses. 

There are also increasing state-level innovations around retirement plan access. 

For example, in Illinois, by 2017, businesses will be required to offer a plan to employees that will be run by the state in an investment pool and funded by paycheck 

withholding.10 In Washington, a marketplace has been established to facilitate people learning about private plans and encouraging small businesses to match employee investments in their retirement accounts.11 Opportunities like these could 

significantly expand pathways for Millennials to save and build wealth, and those 

reform conversations should also consider part-time and contingent workers. 

Æ