Young Invincibles Issues Report Entitled 'The Path Forward – A Bold Policy Agenda for Young People, by Young People'

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 -- Young Invincibles has issued a 45-page report dated December 2020 entitled: "The Path Forward - A Bold Policy Agenda for Young People, by Young People".

* * *

CONTENTS

Introduction ... 3

A Bold Agenda for Higher Education ... 5

Achieving Universal, Equitable Health Care for All ... 15

An Economy that Works for Young People ... 26

Conclusion ... 38

Appendix ... 39

Endnotes ... 40

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating, yet moments of crisis can often present windows of opportunities.

The Covid-19 global pandemic revealed outdated and weakened public policy frameworks; economic and health care injustices; and a public reckoning of racial inequities. World leaders, political institutions, and businesses have become more open to transformative and bold policies that, only a few years ago, were disregarded as unrealistic and politically untenable. This moment presents an opportunity to make a fundamental course-correction in American policymaking that could shape our nation for decades.

To make a meaningful shift in our country's approach to policy, our leaders must build an agenda that tackles the root causes of today's problems; envision a new model for policymaking that is grounded in an inclusive, diverse, and equity-oriented worldview; and create policy solutions to promote broadly shared prosperity. And that agenda must center young people.

The effects of Covid-19 crystalize the interconnectedness of our health care systems, institutions of higher education, workforce models, and economic and racial justice. For young people, no issue is addressed in a vacuum. The inability to pursue continued higher education diminishes lifetime earning potential and lowers access to affordable health care. Education leads to better, more stable jobs that pay higher wages and allow families to accumulate wealth that can be used to improve health. To ensure more young people have the ability to prosper beyond Covid-19, we must remove anchors of debt, increase disposable income, re-orient academic degree programs, enhance student support services, and improve alignment and affordability of quality health care.

A BOLD BLUEPRINT FOR THE PATH FORWARD

The Path Forward was not just developed for young people. It was developed by young people. We at Young Invincibles believe that lasting social change is created by empowering local young adult leaders with deep community ties who can design and drive the work. That's the underpinning for this entire set of policy recommendations.

Recognizing the significance of this moment, we set out to gather input from young people, hear from leading experts and policymakers, collect and analyze current and historic data, and consider what a new landscape could hold.

This report outlines 40 recommendations for policymakers that offer long-overdue changes in policy areas central to the life and livelihoods of young people: raising wages, lowering health care and prescription drug costs, strengthening and expanding safety net programs, eliminating the burden of student debt, and insisting America's stated values are applied equally. These policies would address our nation's most pressing problems: health care, higher education, and workforce development.

Health Care

The lack of access to affordable health insurance, especially among young, low-wage workers, has led to frustration with our system of employer-based health coverage. To make coverage truly universal, we must expand the Affordable Care Act's subsidies, set up auto-enrollment mechanisms for the uninsured, and address the high cost of care. Getting everyone covered is essential, but it will not by itself address racial disparities in health. We must eliminate racism in public health, improve mental health care access, fund safe alternatives to police intervention, and sustain expanded telehealth.

Higher Education

The financial model of higher education that leads to continuous rises in tuition to replace steadily dwindling public investment is broken, and especially burdensome for low- and middle-income students. To have an affordable, accessible, and equitable higher education system, we must direct public investment to these essential institutions. We must couple that investment with accountability for improved incomes that empower graduates--especially graduates from populations long shut out and marginalized by higher education policies and practices. The weight of student debt also burdens more than 43 million borrowers. The weight is heaviest for Black and Latinx borrowers. Just as bad policy choices of recent decades have exacerbated this financial crisis, an equity-focused program of student debt cancellation can right this wrong and set up millions of people for better financial futures while accelerating economic recovery.

Workforce

Many businesses continue to close or face uncertain futures, and entire sectors of the economy may look different in fundamental ways than young people preparing for or in the early stages of their careers expected even less than a year ago. Focusing on direct support for low-wage workers, increasing wages, and dismantling structural racism in employment can build a more resilient system of social supports that better protect young people against future pandemics and other emergencies. A bolder step is needed to end arbitrary and punitive policies that restrict young people from food, housing, and other basic needs.

The Covid-19 crisis will pass, but its traumatic effects will echo through many years ahead. The current moment should challenge all leaders in positions of power to restructure social policies and systems that throughout U.S. history have perpetuated racial and economic injustice and oppression.

Recognizing the significance of this moment--and informed by the policy failures of the Great Recession we are choosing a new path forward.

A path forward that is built by young people, for young people.

Conclusion

The enormous challenges of this moment require long-term vision and fundamental changes in higher education, health care, and the workforce. Young Invincibles will remain a leading voice for this country's rising generation. We hold no monopoly on ideas to reshape society, but we are certain no real progress can come without dismantling the systemic racism that shows up in so many ways of American life. We commit to advancing this work by advocating and doing all we can to realize universal health coverage, expand equitable access to higher education, create better jobs, and build worker power.

Health coverage is economic security--plain and simple. Young adults believe that health care access should be universally accessible, comprehensive, and affordable, and we must take tangible steps to make that a reality. The economic fallout and public health crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic are the most glaring examples of a broken system that must be fundamentally changed. By investing in and strengthening Medicaid coverage, building on the ACA by creating a superior public plan, and auto-enrolling all young people into no-cost coverage, we can begin to eliminate uninsurance among all young people, and continue to build towards universality. The latest data from the American Community Survey suggests that full Medicaid expansion across all 50 states could increase coverage by as much as five percentage points, to 90 percent of all young people.81 An additional expansion of coverage options for DACA and undocumented people would go a long way towards reaching universal young adult coverage.

As in health care, Covid-19 only exacerbated the inequities endemic in higher education. The least-resourced institutions prior to the pandemic serve the highest numbers of students most affected by Covid-19, yet federal relief efforts to date have not addressed institutional or student needs equitably.

We must break this cycle by strengthening federal-state partnerships, but moreover institutions must also address student debt and college affordability; revolutionize course delivery and degree program structure; embrace the equity imperative; and implement student-ready models of support.

Further, as large sectors of the American economy reorient to meet the demands of an uncertain future, existing truths will retain their power: All workers deserve a wage that reflects the value of their labor. An economy that promotes growing racial and income inequality rather than shared prosperity is a broken economy. Our social safety net must be stitched tighter together to support people in need. And our ability to strengthen our workforce is only as strong as our ability to put good data to its most powerful use. We must fully recognize today's diverse, dynamic generation of young people and demand public and private sector employers and lawmakers fundamentally change the labor market in ways that increase worker power, address race and gender discrimination, and lift people out of poverty.

The 2020s can be a decade of renewal, rather than of repeated mistakes. This renewal depends on our collective ability to commit to an economic future that works for the young people of today. These policies will help lawmakers, philanthropists, practitioners, and young people prepare for the path forward.

* * *

The full report can be viewed at: https://younginvincibles.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/The-Path-Forward.pdf

TARGETED NEWS SERVICE (founded 2004) features non-partisan 'edited journalism' news briefs and information for news organizations, public policy groups and individuals; as well as 'gathered' public policy information, including news releases, reports, speeches. For more information contact MYRON STRUCK, editor, [email protected], Springfield, Virginia; 703/304-1897; https://targetednews.com