In this election season, here’s another chance to express your opinion: help set Qvisory’s advocacy agenda by voting on which issues we should address.
Why do we need an advocacy agenda for our generation? Well, here are some facts. Between 1992 and 2001, average credit card debt for young adults went up 55 percent. As a result, today the average indebted young adult carries a little over $8,000 in credit card debt and spends a quarter of every dollar he or she earns on debt payments. What happened? Well, in 1978 and 1996, Supreme Court rulings in two court cases removed all limits on how high banks could set interest rates and fees on credit cards. This deregulation had drastic results for today’s young adults, who got their first credit cards just as these rulings came into effect.
Another story: over the past ten years, the average tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities have increased by 40 percent, while the median family income has increased by only 12 percent. Meanwhile, the maximum Pell Grant has gone from covering 84 percent of the cost of tuition at a four-year public college in 1976 to covering only 39 percent today. What is the result? Well, today two-thirds of students graduate with debt and the average student borrows $20,000 to go to college.
These two examples show that state and national policies have a direct impact on our daily lives. Our access to health care, good jobs, first homes, and childcare also depend on policies that are set by federal, state, and local government, and by companies we work for and do business with.
Young people have seized on this year’s election as a chance to change things and are turning out in record numbers. Now, we need to be ready when the election is over to push decision-makers to support policy change that benefits us. Play a role in this movement by voting on which issues should make up our agenda.
Vote today, and then help us fight for our agenda tomorrow.
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