About 10 percentage point more without a College Degree that pays a good wages, and the benefits are much better. Host last call. Rob from oregon. What is the name of the town . Caller the dalles. It seems like both sides of the aisle are calling for job creation. It would seem like giving the president trade authority would be a great step forward. I think the president mentioned in his state of union that about 95 of World Consumers live outside of the United States. Perhaps you could clarify that. It seems like United States is being left on the sidelines as the rest the world is negotiate trade deals. Were facing higher tariffs and other bears the competition. We need to be in this game and i think trade Promotion Authority is would be a greatway that we the would be a greatway that we are part of this Global Economy. It seems like a nobrainer and i would hope that congress would take steps forward and said the president something he would actually sign to keep our economy going. Guest you make an excellent point. The World Economy other countries are not standing by. There they are negotiating these deals that exclude us, and would mean higher tariffs. 95 of the worlds consumers live overseas. 70 of they has 70 of the world purchasing power. There are nearly 3 times of what we buy here in the United States outside of our borders. We need a bigger share of the economy. Trade agreements are the solution to leveling the Playing Field and make it fair for the u. S. To lead so that we can produce those highpaying jobs here in the United States and growing manufacturing. Guest we need to create jobs in this country. Unfortunately, trade Promotion Authority will not help us do that. The reality is, tariffs around the world are very low. We have had dozens of rounds of trade negotiations which eliminate tariffs on many goods. The real action the trade deals that we are negotiating today are on nontrade barriers like investment, intellectual property rights, rules of the road. The way these agreements are being negotiated now will hurt American People and consumers. We need to take advantage of these negotiations to level the Playing Field and compete with workers around the world. As i described the other day many things are impeding our ability at least 20 countries around the world are manipulating their currencies. If these countries really want to do a deal with United States, they should be willing to give up those currency manipulation policies before entering into this agreement. Those are the kind of terms that we ought to demand before we give these countries special access the United States. Host robert scott and linda dempsey, thank you. A live picture from philadelphia, where House Democrats are holding their policy retreat this week. President obama addressed the group yesterday. Coming up in a few moments, we will have live coverage of a News Conference with Democratic Leaders as they wrap up the retreat. Nancy pelosi and Xavier Becerra will leave the conference. One thing they could be addressed if the republicans repeated attempts to get rid of the Nations Health care law. We understand next week a bill to repeal it could come to the floor. That news briefing coming up shortly. We will have it live when it starts here on cspan. In the Washington Post today met romney told supporters he will not seek presidency for a third time in 2016, shortcircuiting a campaign that threaten to up and it fluid race for the republican nomination. Quote, after putting considerable thought into a run for president , i have decided that its best to give other leaders in the Party Opportunity to become our next nominee, he said, according to remarks. The 2012 republican president ial nominee had been weighing another run at the white house after telling Campaign Donors on january 9 that he still wanted to be president. That announcement was made in a Conference Call to supporters this morning. We do have audio of the call. Its about four minutes. We plan to bring it to you after this News Conference. Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch was on the hill wednesday for a confirmation hearing. If you missed her testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee, you will be able to watch it in its entirety on sunday. We will have it for you starting at 10 30 a. M. Eastern time here on cspan. We are waiting for the start of the House Democrats news briefing at the tail end of their retreat in philadelphia. Right now i look at a new survey looking at the wellbeing of young adults in 1980 and today, from todays washington journal. Its called america by the numbers. We want to look at the statistics about americans. Today, a look at the millennial generation. Joining us is Jonathan Vespa of the u. S. Census bureau. How do you define a millennial . Guest what census looked at was generational comparisons. We wanted to put out an interactive tool census explore that would let us look at how baby boomers compare to millennials. For millennials, we mean young adults today, that segment of the population that is 18 to 34 years old. Host the comparison that you put was to 1980 when the socalled baby boomers were in the 18 to 34 range. What is your bottom line when it comes to comparing millennials today to 1980 . Guest one of the things that surprised us was that on the one hand millennials seem to be doing better today economically than baby boomers were when they were young adults. Some millennials are earning more today than when their parents were young, and they are more likely to have a College Degree. On the other hand, more millennials are unemployed and more are living in poverty. Host joining our conversation is aaron career courier of Pew Charitable trust. Why did the Census Bureau find what they were finding . Guest there are so many things happening with millennials right now. Every generation is sort of buffeted by the unique historical, economic, social context in which they grow up and come of age. For millennials, we are seeing that they entered the label Labor Force Just at a point when the economic downturn happened, and in the recovery and aftermath. That has huge implications for the way they experience their Economic Growth and their future opportunity. Host when you look at the data were millenials doing well in 1980 . That was kind of a bad year as well. Guest its true the 1980, 1981 recession is a play for baby boomers. The difference here with millenials is also the social context. They are entering the label or force labor force in which Postsecondary Education has never been more important, but its also never been more expensive. They are really grappling with the costbenefit analysis of how to succeed in the labor market with this backdrop of a really high unemployment and a question of whether it is still worth it to go to college. Host we have divided the numbers by age. Were talking about the economic wellbeing or advancements or nonadvancements of the millennial generation. The first number up there is for todays millenials, 18 to 34. Is todays millennial generation better off than their parents overall . Guest one of the things we looked at was earnings during earnings. What are millenials with fulltime jobs earning compared to what their parents were earning when they were young . In adults are earning about 2000 less than young adults were earning back in 1980. This is full for all time for fulltime workers working yearround. This isnt just a national trend. This varies across geography. This is a local experience. In some states and areas of the country, young adults are earning more than their parents were when they were young. I think we have a slide prepared on that. Host you have this chart here, young adults earn 2000 less than young adults arent in 1980. Why is that earned in 1980. Why is that . Guest if you look in the aggregate, you can see that earnings hasnt really grown over the last 30 years. The other thing thats important to keep in mind is that millenials have a lot of diverse experiences. Within a generation, there are a lot of people who are doing well, who are exceeding the earnings and income of their parents while at the same time you have higher rates of poverty among this group than you did in 1980. That just shows the while it is helpful to think about a generation based on its age, there is still a diversity of experience happening within that group. Host what is the significance of this data . Why should we care, and what kind of policies do you think may be developed because of what we are seeing with this data . Guest pew has been studying the health and status of the American Dream for a few years now. We care because americans care. This idea of being able to work hard, play by the rules, and get ahead is something that is a big part of our national ethos. Americans in general want to be able to see every generation of americans succeed. They want to be able to see that people can work hard, get an education, have a job, and their earnings will be reflective of that hard work. The policy solutions are wideranging. There isnt a Silver Bullet here. We have to think a list equally about all the things going on. That will be neighborhoods and community development. Theres a difference across the country and how people are experiencing earnings growth. That will also be education especially post secondary education. The other thing we are pointing out the savings and assets. This generation has to have some kind of financial cushion to propel themselves forward. Jonathan vespa, walk us through the chart we have on the screen. Young adults today are more likely to have a College Degree but live in poverty. Guest this is part of that National Story we are seeing that when we break it apart, it looks different in different parts of the country. It seems at face value that it is a contradiction. About 20 of young adults today are living in poverty. This is higher than the National Rate for the population as a whole, and higher than young adults in 1980. They also have more education. They are more likely to have a College Degree. Host 22 of young adults 18 to 34 have a College Degree correct . Compared to 16 in 1980 . Guest correct. Host jay is calling in from santa cruz california. Caller i would like to ask mr. Morrison if his organization could possibly do a study on where the heroin host we are going to have to hang up on you. That was the last segment. We switched segments. Chris, we are talking with the Census Bureau and the Pew Charitable trust about the millennial generation. How old are you . [no audio] we will have to move on from chris as well. Chris, reminder to turn down the volume on your tv. Erin courier, is it significant that the share of the young Adult Population is shrinking . Guest this is significant. This is part of a big demographic shift happening across the country simultaneously to an increase in families of color. We are moving towards an era in which we will have majorityminority population. This has big implications for the way we think about social safety net programs, Social Security being a perfect example. We have a lot of money going towards Older Americans and fewer resources being directed towards these younger families. Host chuck in palm coast florida. How old are you . Caller 74. Martin luther kings birthday. My comment is maybe i have some advice for the young people. I retired at 35. Im not enjoying it as much anymore. My advice to them is to vote carefully. In my opinion we have a racist president this is my opinion whose advantage in one sector of the population, and hes not even doing that well. We need jobs, because thats what i had an opportunity for. Host how do those jobs come about . Caller you just have to advantage the job creators. My wife used to have a Small Business. If you give the businessman a lower Corporate Tax rate, he will take that money to create jobs because he wants to advantage himself with a product that is available for more and more of the consumers. There will be more and more consumers if more and more jobs are created. Host i asked erin about the young Adult Population shrinking as a percentage of the u. S. Population. Statistically speaking, when you look at that, does that put the Social Security, medicare funding programs in a little bit of hot water . Guest a lot has been made about how the millennials are the largest generation yet in u. S. History. Anyway, thats true, in terms of raw numbers. If we look back compared to how large the baby boom generation was compared to the size of the u. S. Population than, baby boomers left a much larger footprint. Erins point is spoton here that even though we have more young adults today, they make up a smaller share of the population, which means the u. S. Population is aging at a faster rate than the young Adult Population is growing. Host nathan, st. Louis. How old are you . Caller 23. Host how welloff are you . Caller im able to pay all my bills host are you collegeeducated . Caller about two years, but i stopped going to college because of the cost of it. Host are you working fulltime . Caller yes. Host how would you compare your Current Situation to that of your parents when they were your age . Caller my parents always said they were working two, three jobs and its hard to find a job nowadays host are you working fulltime . Caller yes. Host do you plan on going back to school . Caller i really dont think so because im trying to get into real estate, so i dont think a College Degree would help me with that, and i think the record levels of college debt the students have these days, i dont think college is really worth it. Host you have been very nice and let me question you, but youre the one who called in. What would you like to ask . Caller i just wanted to say that the amount of debt the students have these days when they do get out of college, and the students that when they get a degree, its hard for them to find a job, so thats why i dont think its worth it. Host erin, college debt and how that affects his generation. Guest theres no question that for people who have a large amount of debt, it is front of mine for them, and especially for people struggling under that debt. If you look at this over the aggregate of everyone who has debt a lot is being made of this group who have huge amounts of debt but have a fouryear degree. What lacks attention being paid to is a number of people who have a small amount of debt but they are the most likely to default on that debt, maybe people who started a community College Degree, started a certificate program, for whatever reason could not finish, but took on all of this debt and dont have the degree to pay off the debt. The student loan issue is a really complicated one. Its not just the people with high debt load that we need to be worrying about. A lot of scholars are arguing Pay Attention to this group down here that has very little debt but is really, really struggling. Host maybe nathan spent two years in college and dropped out because of the cost. Guest i believe he said that he has a job now. That brings up a good point about where young adults are going after they graduate from college. Where are they going to find those jobs . When we put together the senses explore, we found census explorer we found transfer different across the u. S. Young adults who are earning more than their parents seem to be clustered on the eastern seaboard. When you look at cities and metro areas, the top 10 in the u. S. That have the highest levels of young adult employment, half of them are in just two states, north dakota and south dakota. That brings up a question about how these experiences are local and how young adults make those decisions. Host a baby boomer in charlotte, north carolina. How old are you . Caller 54. If you read a book by Charles Murray called coming apart, he talks about fishtown and belmont and the experiences people have and how they affect their satisfaction or success in life. We are probably talking about that with millenials. I see more super achieving millenials running around, doing extremely well, but i also see people who want to not conform they feel entitled, whether it is tattoos cornrows, not being able to speak properly, and going to interviews and are upset because they cant get a job. You can go to college and come out and not know the basic rules. I wish there was an extra class in school that says look, if you would like to go to work for a big company, you have to conform and assimilate and be a part of that group rather than say, im going to be an individual and complained about not getting hired. Host are your childr