Giving Compass' Take:
- Here are some policy recommendations to help struggling millennials and Gen Zers facing unemployment and financial insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- How can funders invest in young people to help with financial assistance and support?
- Read about the nature of unemployment insurance benefits during COVID-19.
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Roughly one-quarter of adults believe they are financially worse off now than at the beginning of the pandemic. However, not all generations have experienced the COVID-19 economic recession equally. In March and April, nearly 60 percent of Gen Z adults reported they or their families experienced job-related losses, and more than a third reported they were worried their families would face difficulties paying rent, mortgages, or utility bills in the coming month.
To explore young adults’ experiences with employment, hardship, and financial distress months into the pandemic, we analyzed new data from the Urban Institute’s September 2020 Coronavirus Tracking Survey. Our findings can inform strategies to support young adults facing employment instability and hardship.
Nearly one in five young millennials and Gen Z adults (19.5 percent) reported they or their spouse or partner experienced layoffs since the pandemic began. Unsurprisingly, they’re also more worried about being able to work as many hours as they want next month, compared with working-age baby boomers.
Although some working-age baby boomers may not be worried about future work hours because they are retired, younger adults may be more worried because they rely heavily on the gig economy (PDF) and temp jobs, which have less-predictable earnings and are the first to be cut in economic downturns (PDF). This can have permanent effects on young adults’ careers; evidence shows people who experience early career recessions have lower employment and earnings (PDF) than their peers who began their careers in good economic times, even after the recession ends.
Federal policymakers could consider the following policy adaptations, which would provide a lifeline for struggling young adults.
- Provide direct cash assistance.
- Expand access to unemployment insurance for more young adults.
- Eliminate asset limits from federal programs.
- Expand SNAP benefits for college students.
Read the full article about millennials and gen Z face economic insecurity by Kassandra Martinchek at Urban Institute.