A Better Deal

Demos is hosting a great conference this week that will address some of the economic concerns that new workers are facing in this unpredictable, unstable, and darn near frighting economy.

A Better Deal: Reclaiming Economic Security for a New Generation will be May 8-9th, 2008, at The Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington DC. While this is a schlep for many folks there are scholarships and stipends available for need based folks interested in this topic. It would be wonderful if I could attend but ... alas... I cannot. The good news is that Mike Connery at Future Majority will be live blogging the conference and I'm sure there will be helpful multimedia available after the fact.

Discussing economic challenges to a new generation is a topic I've always been interested in but had little information available. Demos is not only providing extensive materials to address these issues but they're bringing together folks from a wide variety of political outreach, non-profit, get-out-the-vote orgs and more all in a collective effort to elevate this generation’s economic crisis onto the national agenda, to offer policy substance to sustain the rise in youth voting, and to forge partnerships for future reform efforts. Attendees will get the tools to connect politics to the personal financial struggles of young voters, and forge connections with others to build a movement for a better deal in their communities.

According to the site

"It's getting harder for young adults to get ahead in America. Compared to previous generations, today's 20-somethings earn less, carry more debt and pay more for everything from health care to housing. With young people voting in record numbers, it's time to put this generation's economic crisis on the national agenda and build a movement for a better deal."

I will bring you much more on these topics in the coming weeks and more information as the conference unfolds. If you can make it I certainly recommend it.