Draut estimates 25 cents out of every dollar earned by indebted graduates goes to pay off credit cards or loans, for a total debt load of about $20,000 per person.
A recent study by Demos, a public policy group, broke down the budget of a sample college graduate. With a monthly after-tax income of $2,058, $797 goes to rent and utilities, $456 to food and groceries, $464 to transportation, and $307 to school and card debt payments.
The report notes: "What distinguishes low- and middle-income households with relatively high levels of credit card debt from those with lower levels of debt is chance and misfortune."
"Elections are the backbone of democracy, and New Yorkers should be able to have faith that the people who run our elections are able to fairly and fully apply the law," said Scott Novakowski, program associate in the Democracy Program at Demos. "This report proves that voters are not only misinformed about their eligibility, they are subject to unnecessary, burdensome and illegal documentation requirements for voter registration.
The problem, according to all three books, is that for today's young adults, those lean early years -- the Top Ramen phase -- may never give way to the stability and prosperity enjoyed by their boomer parents. A number of factors are blamed, chief among them student loans, credit cards, wage stagnation, the rising costs of health care and home ownership, the disappearance of pensions and the likely collapse of Social Security under the weight of all those retiring boomers.
According to a riveting study by a pair of national not-for-profit, nonpartisan organizations, about one-third of all U.S. households categorized as low-income or middle-income are racking up credit card debt to pay for basic living expenses.
And much of that debt has been accrued covering everyday items. Seven out of 10 households reported using their credit cards to pay for car repairs, basic living expenses or house repairs, in effect using debt as their "safety net," according to that same study. One out of three families reported using credit cards to cover basic living expenses for on average four of the last 12 months.
Reflecting on the current anti-government sentiment, Patrick Bresette—Associate Program Director of Public Works: The Dēmos Center for the Public Sector— calls for a need to rebuild trust in government by rebuilding trust in each other: finding shared goals, identifying common purposes and promoting the belief that problems can be addressed together.
A photo voter ID law signed by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is unnecessary, unfair, restrictive and intentionally discriminates against African-American and Latino voters, a coalition of civil rights groups will argue in a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday.
And, says Anastasia Christman of the National Employment Law Project, "his focus on putting young people to work is critical for communities of color." The plan contains funding for summer job and youth work programs.
