Abandoned: America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnections

FEATURING ANNE KIM – Newsweek magazine recently published a cover story by Sam Hill entitled, “OK, Millennial: Boomers Are the Greatest Generation in History,” that claimed, “Millennials seem to think their challenges are greater than those any other generation has faced. Not really.” Hill wrote, “The Great Recession? Nothing compared with the Great Depression …The wealth gap? Today it’s actually pretty close to historical averages…Student loans? Student loan debt is $1.6 trillion. Over the next 30 years, boomers will pass down $68 trillion as part of the “Great Wealth Transfer.” That should cover it for many borrowers…”

The article’s snide tone dismissed the concerns of American youth who are speaking out about the injustices they face in a world that has increasingly abandoned them to falling wages and economic insecurity, gun violence, climate change, and more.

Now a new book lays out in great detail just how deep the crisis facing American youth is.

Anne Kim, Director of Domestic and Social Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and a contributing editor to Washington Monthly. She is the author of Abandoned: America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnection.

**This segment was originally broadcast on June 10, 2020.