June | 2024 | FROLITICKS

What Millennials And Generation Z Have In Common

by bcurry

Over the last decade, a lot has been written about today’s younger generation, most notably the so-called millennials and Gen Zers. As you are aware, millennials are between 28 and 43, and Gen Z generally refers to those ages 12 to 27. Some observers believe that millennials had it bad financially, but Gen Z may have it even worse. Millennials did go through two recessions, including the Great Recession of 2008. Many struggled to get jobs, particularly following the Great Recession, when the nation’s unemployment rate hovered around 10 percent for over a year. Their wages took a massive hit, too. On average, millennials lost about 13 percent of their earnings between 2007 and 2017. Gen Z has gone through the recent pandemic, and came out seeing a totally different labour market, especially for recent college graduates. Both the millennials and Gen Zers have faced tough labour market conditions, making it harder to get good paying jobs, especially among blue-collar workers. Now, they are facing ever increasing debt loads and tough housing costs, making it difficult to purchase that important first home. Indeed, Gen Z is the first generation where recent college grads are more likely to be unemployed than the general population. In addition, both groups left college with significant student loan debts.

Why is this scenario important? First of all, millennials were the largest generation group in the U.S.
in 2023, with an estimated population of 72.7 million. Millennials recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the biggest group, and they will continue to be a major part of the population for many years. Add in Gen Zers, who made up 61.3 million of the American population, these two groups now represent a major, if not the biggest voting block in the U.S. They will play a key role in the upcoming American elections next November, something both the Democrats and Republicans are well aware of.

Can President Biden appeal to the youth vote? Biden and the Democrats have relied heavily on their vote in the past. However, with the current inflationary economy and difficult employment situation, I wouldn’t count on it. Since they may not necessarily favour former President Trump, they may instead simply decide not to vote. Such an outcome would have a major impact on both political parties. Among women in both groups, there may be more hope for the Democrats in light of the Republican stance on abortion, particularly in Republican led states. This has yet to be seen.

Although Trump’s popularity among young adults, aged 18 to 34, plummeted as he tried to overturn the 2020 election, Gallup’s 2023 surveys of U.S. adults indicated that his popularity has rebounded since. Forty-two percent of young adults saw him favourably in October 2020, but that dropped to 28 percent in January 2021. His favorability bounced back to 42 percent by December 2023, especially among young Hispanics and Blacks. Younger voters, under the age of 30, feel worse about the economy than older cohorts. Not surprisingly, in the latest New York Times/Sienna poll, for example, Black voters feel as bad about the economy as their white counterparts and Latino voters feel even worse. Will his recent conviction have an impact?

What is also interesting is the fact that following the January 6, 2021 assault on the Hill, Trump’s popularity took a significant dip among younger voters. However, the improvement in Trump’s favorability now can be partly attributed to the fading memories of January 6 and the tumultuous year that was 2020. As in the case of the last election, social media will once again play a significant role in influencing the views of younger voters more than any other age group. The question becomes whether younger voters will believe everything posted on social media or will also look to main stream media sources for their information?

There is little doubt that bread and butter issues will dominate the electoral scene this year more than any other issue. How millennials and Gen Zers view the economic platforms of both political parties will more than likely determine the final outcome of the election. With so much in common, both parties will have to take major steps to win over their votes.

Donald Trump Joe Biden Presidential Election 2024 Social Media The American Dream US Women's Issues

Is Inflation On The Way Down?

by bcurry

This past week, both the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Statistics Canada indicated that the general inflation rate trend is gradually going down. As a result, the Bank of Canada reduced its central bank rate by a quarter of a point. However, such an interest rate reduction will not immediately affect mortgage and loan rates offered by the banks and other financial institutions. Also, for the average American and Canadian, the cost of living is still high as demonstrated by food prices and the costs of homes or rents in urban centers. These costs do not necessarily have as much to do with inflation as they do with regards to other domestic issues and foreign markets. For this reason, there is little likelihood that food costs, rents and housing costs will decline in the near future. There is a general lack of affordable housing across both countries and the impact of climate change is already being felt in the agriculture sector. We will have to wait to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve will do with respect to the current central bank rate. With inflation sticking at a level above their 2% target, they’re apparently downgrading their outlook for interest rate cuts.

Politically, this situation does not bear well for the governing parties in both countries. The economy, and especially inflation and high interest rates, is still the priority concern for most voters. Remember the old adage: “It’s the economy stupid”. In light of the coming American elections next November, the possibility of major economic improvements is increasingly unlikely every day. The same can be said for the Canada’s federal government and its ruling Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau, which could call an election next year.

In general, the current economy has also particularly hurt younger voters, such as Generation Z and the Millennials. They have been especially affected by the lack of affordable housing and the continuing difficulties surrounding the cost of living and failure of wages to keep up with rising costs. Their votes in coming elections will be very important and may very well determine which parties are successful in their bids to govern.

Both the Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada have admitted that maintaining very low interest rates over the last decade has contributed to the current economic dilemma. For example, it created a major imbalance in how the mortgage markets operate, encouraging many people to overspend and helping to cause incredible rising costs in housing. In addition, new housing developments could not keep up with the created demand. As a result of the pandemic, there was also a substantial increase in construction costs due to the resulting scarcity of materials. It has taken some time for the markets to rebound and for supply chains to catch up to the subsequent demands.

While the markets did well during the pandemic and continue to do well, this primarily benefited the large corporate sector and shareholders, but not average Americans and Canadians. Many of them suffered wage and job losses during the pandemic, and many have not recuperated those losses after the pandemic. The pandemic significantly altered our economies and our lives. The consequences will be around for years to come. Just look at subsequent changes to our labour markets.

Yes, it would appear that the inflation rate is slowly on the way down. However, for the existing political parties it may be too little and too late. For the average person, the damage has already been done, resulting in a great deal of anger, frustration and increasing division in political views. There is little doubt that both the Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada will continue to be cautious in how they handle the central bank rates. Fearing any potential new inflationary pressures on the economy, don’t expect any major changes in the near future.

Canada Economy Economy Elections Presidential Election 2024 US

American Extremist Right-Wing Groups Have Gone Just Too Far

by bcurry

What do the Catholic Charities, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Jewish Family Service and Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service (now called Global Refuge) have in common. They are American charities that have helped new immigrants and refugees in numerous ways, but are now being threatened and under attack by extremist right-wing factions in the U.S.

As noted by the New York Times: “For decades, Catholic Charities and other faith-based organizations have played a crucial role helping federal authorities and local governments manage influxes of migrants. Their work has been funded with bipartisan support in Congress, even through the presidency of Donald J. Trump, who often vilified immigrants.”

These extremist groups have accused non-profit charities of flying migrants all over the country, profiting from illegal operations, trafficking women and children while holding them prisoner in their shelters, and facilitating migrant smuggling. All ludicrous accusations to say the least!

Via social media, extremists and their leaders are putting out all kinds of disinformation to their followers. For his part Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist, called Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish groups that help immigrants “demons” and “anti-American.” The dangers are clear. Many charity members are now literally being threatened and harassed, particularly after the names and phone numbers of staff members at shelters are being released via social media and other means. On occasion, volunteers at the facilities have been sent home, and employees who continued to work were advised to keep a low profile. Increased costly security measures have had to be provided at the shelters themselves for fear of attacks by extremists.

There is something terribly wrong when such well-known and respected charities are demonized in this way, with numerous Republican politicians jumping on the band-wagon. They are only trying, as supported by their faith and values, to help people, no matter where they came from, what’s their ethnicity and how they arrived in the country. It is indeed a sad reflection on the divisive nature of the American people views at this time that some could openly support such vicious actions against employees of charitable groups, who in turn are now being routinely targeted.

Donald Trump Extremist Groups Immigration Social Media Usage US

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Is Inflation On The Way Down?

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