Show Generation Debt Financial remedies for young people j Joe Heim The Washington Post If awards were given for gloomiest book title its it's hard to imagine any current tome more deserving than Anya Kamenetz's Generation Debt Why Now Is a Terrible Time to Be Young Phew talk about a book you probably wont won't see list on any critics critic's summer beach reading Apparently Lifes a Drag and Theres There's Nothing You Can Do About It was already taken But if the title is heavy-handed heavy the author admits that the subtitle was sort of a marketing thing it does convey the dire straits of many young people who face staggering student loan and credit card debt and are unable to find jobs that pay enough to help them dig out Kamenetz is a recent Yale grad who now pens a column called Generation t Debt for the Village Voice She says she wrote the book not as a self-help self guide but as a wake-up wake call for peers parents and policy The main idea of the book is that this generation generation generation genera genera- tion wont won't do as well as our parents and that's newin new newin newin in Americas America's history she said in a phone interview interview inter inter- interview view last week She adds that the lack of affordable affordable affordable afford afford- able health care and the sharp rise in college education education education edu edu- cation costs have exacerbated the problems for young people really changed is the importance placed on getting a college degree is more emphasized now than ever before she said Based on the growing demand the costs have been rising faster than inflation That's the bind Federal aid has increased but it has shifted heavily heavily heavily ily from grants to loans To help pay for college students are borrowing particularly heavily on their credit cards According to a 2005 survey Kamenetz quotes in her book nearly 25 percent of all students are putting their tuition directly on plastic Gulp So does going to college still make sense financially I would never want to say that college college col col- lege isn't worth it Kamenetz said But it should only be right for you if you have the maturity to navigate through it and the financial aid Kamenetz addresses the plight of young underemployed underemployed underemployed under under- employed people as well That the majority of young people in this country are wasting years of their lives in wage low-wage skill low-skill jobs is an economic economic economic eco eco- and moral disaster she writes She wants the big national chains that employ wage low-wage workers to do better by them invest in them as valuable employees and with government incentives incentives incentives tives provide training health care and other benefits For young people who may not think college is right for them she points to resources such a as the book Best Jobs fobs Without a Four Four- Year Degree Despite Generation Debts glum title and her grim analysis Kamenetz isn't entirely despondent She offers basic remedies for the prone debt-prone Live within your means save as much money as you can cut up credit cards consolidate debt have serious conversations with your parents about money And she asks the government government government gov gov- to take an active role in such things as making sure every qualified student can afford to pay for college She also pushes Congress to reinstate reinstate reinstate rein rein- state usury laws nationwide to reduce credit card interest rates and advocates a nationwide student movement to push for financial aid reforms As Asan Asan Asan an example she points to a Virginia stu stu- stu- stu led dent-led political action committee that lobbies on issues issues related to higher education I see reasons reasons rea rea- reasons sons for hope Kamenetz said Young people are waking up to these issues |