On February 4, 2021, CLASP launched #WhyWeCantWait: A New Deal for Youth (ND4Y) calling leaders in the public and private sectors to support youth-led policy solutions that address the glaring economic and social injustices facing young people today. A New Deal for Youth will propose policy recommendations and community solutions developed by and centering the experiences of young adults as the pandemic continues to disproportionately impact their lives.
Inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs that created new systems, policies, structures to bring prosperity back to Americans during the Great Depression, the New Deal for Youth will include Black, Indigenous, Latinx and immigrant communities of color that were negated from FDR’s New Deal.
Kisha Bird, director of Youth Policy at Clasp, stated the following:
“Despite an economic recovery for many, poverty and unemployment for young people remained well above the national average. Young people of color have found themselves pushed out of school and under constant threat of law enforcement. The pandemic has intensified an already untenable mental health crisis. This data tells us that young people are not doing okay and we have consistently demonstrated they are not a national priority.”
Learn more and join us at www.newdealforyouth.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @NewDeal4Youth. If you have any questions about contact the ND4Y team at newdealforyouth@clasp.org.
