'Youth Misery Index' Hits Record High, Skyrockets 32% Under Obama

Monica Sanchez | January 20, 2016
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Image via YAF

When it comes to the issues that matter to them the most – jobs, education, and student loans – young Americans are more miserable than ever.

Young America's Foundation (YAF) revealed this week that its Youth Misery Index spiked to a record high. 

Based on the sum of youth unemployment, student loan debt, and national debt per capita, the Youth Misery Index climbed to 109.9 in 2016, up from 106.5 last January and 83.5 (or 32 percent) from when Obama assumed office in 2009.

YAF writes,

“The Youth Misery Index (YMI), a figure calculated annually by Young America’s Foundation, spiked to a record high of 109.9 this year, up from 106.5 last January, and 83.5 in 2009 when President Obama took office.  The Index is calculated by adding youth unemployment, student loan debt, and national debt (per capita) numbers.

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 President Obama will enter his final year in office with the Youth Misery Index up 32 percent since 2009.

“Young Americans have slogged through the Obama Presidency and will be chained to its impact on their generation for years to come. The youth unemployment rate exceeds 16 percent and the average student in the class of 2015 graduated with a record $35,000 in student loan debt. National debt per capita, a remarkable burden that will fall squarely on the shoulders of millennials, is just under $59,000.

Young Americans—many of whom helped elect President Obama—are utterly disappointed by the impact his policies have had on their lives. They are struggling to find employment, drowning in tens of thousands of dollars of personal debt, and faced with the prospect of paying off an $18 trillion national debt. His Presidency has been a boon for youth misery and a disaster for millennials.

Today marks the first day of President Obama’s last year in office. How presidential candidates address issues such as skyrocketing tuition costs, student debt, jobs and unemployment will have a huge impact on whom young Americans choose to support in the upcoming general election. 

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