And they helped elect him
Under President Obama, according to the Young America’s Foundation, the Youth Misery Index has risen from 32 to a record high 109.9.
The YMI combines youth unemployment, average graduating student loan debt and national debt per capita.
Youth unemployment has remained stubbornly high during the Obama administration, but student loan debt and national debt per capita are the drivers of the huge increase in the index.
Graduating student loan debt, according to the organization, has jumped 46 percent during the last seven years, going from $24,000 in 2009 to $35,000. The increase, analysts say, is in part because of the president’s nationalization of the student loan industry, which no longer allows colleges to check the costs.