End of the Good Life

Starred review from February 25, 2013
Rich with narrative detail from young people around the world struggling to stay afloat, this first book by Brussels-based economic reporter Froymovich focuses on the toll of the recession on Generation Y (those born between 1976 and 2000), the often overlooked new entrants to the job market, who are saddled with the results of economic policies they didn’t create. Froymovich examines a number of familiar culprits for the financial crisis, including austerity measures in the E.U., and, closer to home, demands for increased education, a dearth of jobs, and cumbersome tuition and loan policies. In addition, Froymovich lucidly explains how Generation Y suffers from the negative effects of long-term unemployment, an increased reliance by employers on temporary or contract work, and a tax system rewarding home ownership and parenting. While two-thirds of the book details the crisis, Froymovich offers mostly left-of-the-aisle solutions, which include changes in education savings and student loan policies, an overhaul of the accreditation procedure which would make affordable education more accessible, increased investment in public service jobs, and progressive changes in tax policy. The author calls on Generation Y to attack the problems of their own future with creative entrepreneurship and increased political involvement, because, as she makes clear, no one else is looking out for them. Agent: Rachel Sussman, Chalberg & Sussman.

February 15, 2013
What will the future hold when the best-educated generation ever can't find the employment for which it is qualified? Brussels-based Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporter Froymovich debuts with an impressive presentation of the challenges raised by this question. The author argues that if policies are not changed internationally, those individuals born between 1976 and 2000, known in the United States as "Generation Y," could well become a lost generation. Generation Y member Froymovich examines the stories of a wide variety of people, including a graduate of Middlebury College now teaching in New York City and dealing with student debts and a 25-year-old Spanish journalist unable to find regular employment in his occupation. The author also cogently explains the underlying financial, economic and demographic trends currently under way. The daughter of immigrants who arrived in Brooklyn in the early 1980s, Froymovich compares her own experiences with those who entered the job market in the previous generation. In the U.S., the previous decade was the first since the 1940s when more jobs were lost than created. More than 17 million college graduates are working in jobs that do not require a college degree. In both the U.S. and Europe, unpaid internships, contingency contracts, temporary work and reduced salaries are replacing the higher-paid, longer-lasting jobs of just a few years ago, and many are choosing to delay household formation and marriage. Like others, Froymovich points to the counter-trend of half the world's labor force being located in Brazil, Russia, India and China and the foreseeable growth of a global middle class. She insists that maintaining America's competitive edge depends "on the construction of better policies" in education and the workplace. A forcefully written treatment of the plight in which an increasing number of people find themselves.

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April 1, 2013
A financial reporter and member of Generation Y, Froymovich gives voice to the frustrations of a generation looking at lower wages, less job security, fewer benefits, and higher taxes and prices than did previous generations. As a result of the global financial crisis, those born between 1976 and 2000 in the U.S. and other developed nations face tough choices regarding continuing education, careers, marriage, and childbearing as governments struggle to reduce their debt by cutting spending on education and social programs. Brussels-based Froymovich puts the U.S. crisis into global perspective with an overview of efforts in European countries to combat recession, rising government debt, and unemployment in the face of massive protests by youth in Spain, Greece, and Britain. Froymovich also examines the more resilient economies of the developing nations of Brazil, China, and other countries for possible solutions. Most compelling are Froymovich's interviews with a wide range of dispirited young adults that provide a more intimate picture of a generation exploring new paths, developing new opportunities, and reshaping its plans for the future.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)