Overview

• Videos/readings on widening economic disparities facing young adults in the U.S. — NOTE:  though the last reading is longer than usual, please read carefully as it offers a deeper analysis of the distinct systemic — institutional and cultural — forces at play.
• Reading response notes

Videos/readings

1.  Young Homeless Woman Shares about Surviving on Venice Beach Los Angeles.  Invisible People. Oct 15, 2018.

2.  Lanette is a homeless veteran living in her car  Invisible People. Feb 23, 2017

3. Kassandra Martinchek, Andrew Warren.  Gen Zers Are Financially Struggling during the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Urban Institute, May 22, 2020.

4.   Edward Helmore. The American Dream? Top 20% Pulling Away From the Rest, Study Finds. Guardian UK. June 4, 2017.

5.  Jennifer M. Silva.  Young and Isolated.  New York Times, June 22, 2013.

6.  Sam Pizzigati. America’s miserable economy may be ruining your love life. Alternet, February 13, 2014.

7.  Jillian Berman.  All the ways student debt exacerbates racial inequality. MarketWatch, July 18, 2019.

8.  Gabriel Winant. Not Every Kid-Bond Matures.  N+1, Issue 30, Winter 2019, pdf pp. 4-9 bounded by purple arrows.

Reading questions.  Post to rolling Google doc with date, assignment title; send link.   Single-spaced & typed in Times New Roman or Arial (size 12 font), 1-inch margins.  Insert horizontal line between assignments.  Remember to proofread.

1.  In an opening sentence or two, summarize the readings.  Then discuss the story they tell?  How do they fit together — or not.  Offer some important details.  How do they address underlying systemic issues (root causes)?  Then offer your thoughts and how it resonates with your experience.
2. How do the entertainment industries represent (or not) the story told in these readings?  In what ways does the economic story of young adults get told in the diverse media streams you follow?  How does this story contrast with some prevailing media depictions of youth?