In “The State of Young America: The Databook,” the economic experts at Demos demonstrate that by virtually every measure, the fortunes of America’s young people are falling under a deluge of debt, shrinking opportunity, rising costs of living and lack of access to health care. Writing with members of the Young Invincibles think tank, the authors write:

The path that each young person takes during their young adulthood often largely determines whether they end up in the middle class as older adults. Given the nation’s current anemic levels of investment in young people, the existence of our future middle class is severely imperiled.

The Databook looks at the well-being of 18- to 34-year-olds across the span of a generation in such areas as income, higher education and family life. Notable among the findings is that as the business environment became increasingly hostile to unionization, the fortunes of young people fell. Today, the Databook tells us, only 10 percent of young people have union representation, compared with 20 percent in 1980. Consequently, with few exceptions, only those who have attained a bachelor’s degree have seen their incomes rise over the course of the past three decades. (Once exception would be those who find their way into a trade union apprenticeship.)

Among the report’s findings:

Cost of Living

• 41.3 percent of 25-34 year-old households spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
• Levels of credit card debt among those ages 25 to 34 have risen 81 percent since 1989, to an average of $6,255 in 2007.

Raising A Family

• Just 11 percent of all workers had access to paid family leave benefits.
• Child care fees for two children exceeded annual median rent payments.

Higher Education

• Average tuition is three times higher today than in 1980
• The student loan default rate rose 31% over just 2 years.

Health Care & Coverage

• In only 10 years, employer-sponsored insurance dropped by 12.8 percent for workers 18-24 and 8.5 percent for workers 25-34.