'Generation Stuck' -- Young People Take on the Opportunity Gap

SAN JOSE, Calif.--I edit a youth magazine here in the heart of Silicon Valley. The last three articles I edited were: "Undocumented and Stuck in Community College"; "Life as a Felon Is No Life at All"; and "A Generation in Debt." Our publication, Silicon Valley De-Bug, was never intended to present only pessimistic outlooks. But given the utter lack of opportunity for many young people today, anything but pessimism seems out of touch.

According to a recently released report from a think tank called The Opportunity Agenda, "stuck" is a national trend. The report, "Opportunity in America," uses indicators such as economic security, equality and civic voice to determine what many young adults know simply by looking at their own life options -- the ladder has lost its rungs.

The report reveals some dismal statistics. The number of uninsured Americans has reached an all-time high of 45 million. Wage inequality is greater now than it was three decades ago. There is greater segregation of minority and low-income students than in 1986, while college tuition is becoming farther out of reach for low- and moderate-income families. Home ownership has declined over the last 35 years for those in lower income communities, with increased reports of discrimination in mortgage lending and home sales.

The generation represented by our magazine, ages 18-25, suffers the most from the opportunity gap. They are coming of age at the same time the avenues to adulthood -- living-wage jobs, higher education, home ownership -- are narrowing. Offered little opportunity to move ahead but saddled with all the responsibilities of adulthood, they have become Generation Stuck.

One of our artists came here from Mexico as a young boy when his mother carried him across the border. Even while working to ease the burden of his constantly working mother, he became a star athlete and student at his high school and community college. He was the All-American teenage boy, except not officially "American." He graduated from community college with stellar grades. Any university would be lucky to have him. But because he is undocumented, he is ineligible for financial aid; without it, tuition at a four-year university is out of reach.

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