Why So Many Minority Millennials Can’t Get Ahead

*Read this, take it into account when you think about and discuss Latino employment, Latino upward mobility, Latino college attainment, Latino millennials. We tend to dump young Latinos in a pile with the rest of young Americans but the realities are not the same. VL

By Mel Jones, The Atlantic

The year after my father died, I graduated from grad school, got a new job, and looked forward to saving for a down payment on my first home, a dream I had always had, but found lofty. I pulled up a blank spreadsheet and made a line item called “House Fund.”

That same week I got a call from my mom—she was struggling to pay off my dad’s funeral expenses. I looked at my “House Fund” and sighed. Then I deleted it and typed the words “Funeral Fund” instead.

My father’s passing was unexpected. And so was the financial burden that came with it.

For many Millennials of color, these sorts of trade-offs aren’t an anomaly. During key times in their lives when they should be building assets, they’re spending money on basic necessities and often helping out family. Their financial future is a rocky one, and much of it comes down to how much—or how little—assistance they receive.

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