This article appreared on the AFL-CIO Blog.
As President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union, our economy is improving and America is benefiting from 58 straight months of job growth. But young people who are stuck on their parents’ couches are still struggling. The youth unemployment rate is too high. Wages are stagnant. College is increasingly expensive, and the mountain of student debt keeps getting larger.
It’s time for a new economic playbook that will revive the American Dream. That’s why the AFL-CIO’s Young Workers Advisory Council came up with the Youth Economic Platform, a list of policy proposals that would help young people overcome our significant economic challenges. Here are seven of the best ideas:
1. Free, high-quality public higher education
Affordable high-quality higher education is an economic necessity, a moral imperative and a fundamental civil right. It’s time we started treating it as such. That’s why labor unions are calling for a fully funded universal public education system.
2. Expanded apprenticeship programs
Union apprenticeship and technical training certificate programs set young workers up for success by teaching them valuable skills, while paying them to learn while they earn. Every year, the labor movement trains more than 450,000 workers. Learn more here: www.aflcio.org/Learn-About-Unions/Training-and-Apprenticeship.