From Publishers Weekly
It's hard to believe: "Today's college grads are making less than the
college grads of thirty years ago." In fact, men aged 25 to 34 with
bachelor's degrees are making just $6,000 more than those with high
school diplomas did in 1972. This is just one of the many shocking
statistics uncovered by Draut, a think-tank adviser and media pundit, in
this incisive and revealing look at why today's young adults find
financial independence so difficult. With catchy terms such as
"debt-for-diploma" and "paycheck paralysis," Draut shows why this age
group's ability to accomplish the traditional adult markers of school,
career and family is stagnating. Her presentation features the one-two
punch of well-sourced data and a series of stories from a diverse group
of interview subjects to prove her thesis that depressed wages, inflated
educational costs, soaring credit card debt and skyrocketing health and
child-care expenses present nearly insurmountable obstacles to young
adults' success. While Draut's conclusions take conservative politicians
to task, they are hardly polemical, and her analysis and solutions are
refreshingly free of glib how-to advice. Her book should be a jarring
wake-up call to both the generation affected most by the current
economic reality and the policy makers facing the consequences for
decades to come. (Jan.)
Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“It’s no time to be 21, and we have Tamara Draut to thank for
describing to us, in precise details, the forces arrayed against young
people ? and what can be done to alleviate the situation.” ?Thomas
Frank, author of What’s the Matter with Kansas“A convincing, impressively researched call-to-arms. . . . Fast-paced, informative prose, amply supported by statistics.” ?San Francisco Chronicle“Persuasive. . . .The 30-something author knows whereof she writes.” ?The Washington Post“Draut’s
presentation will convince many and may be useful even to those who
disagree with her. . . . Parents and young adults definitely need to
read this book and have conversations afterward.” ?USA Today