news-record.com

There’s no question that today’s working families are struggling. Nationally, unemployment is at 10 percent, and a record 38 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Despite some hopeful signs that job loss is slowing, for many people the situation is just getting worse.

A recent study by the AFL-CIO shows that young people are among those hardest hit by the recession — with daunting implications for our country’s future. History shows us that a downturn in young workers’ living standards triggers a cycle of declining living standards passed on to the next generation.

We have to create jobs and we have to do it now. We can start with creating at least two million jobs by rebuilding America’s crumbling schools and bridges, increasing aid to state and local governments and putting TARP funds to work for Main Street.

President Obama included several of these points in his recent jobs plan speech. Young people across the country are counting on Congress and Obama to act quickly because they know it’s not just their own future at risk — it’s their country’s.

MaryBe McMillan
Raleigh

The writer is secretary-treasurer, North Carolina State AFL-CIO.