Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead

Just Okay

I'd rate this book as disappointing. The author seemed to talk in circles and made the same points over and over again. It may have been in an attempt to hammer home her point, but it was very redundant. The author seemed to blame a lot of young adults' financial issues on student loans. And, while this may be part of the problem, she all but ignored the fact that many Americans are in debt simply because of their own irresponsibility and poor spending habits.

A Must Read

As a very recent father, my wife and I have gone through precicely what this incredibly well researched and well written book address. Despite our two income household we were worried sick about being able to afford to have our child. Tamara addresses head on the common critiqe levelled by the proverbial bad parent of society that 'kids today are over indulgent and its all their own fault anyways'. I was shocked by some of the reviewers of this book that they had the audacity to level that 'old chestnut' of quit complaining life's hard and you did it to yourself (who thinks a CDs a luxury anyways?). The only conclusion I could reach was that they had not really bothered to read the book at all...that their presuppositions prevented any actual analysis (like harping on why Higher Ed costs have risen???Irrelevant to the books entire premise) What Draut cogently lays out is that there are measurable differences in todays world that make starting out more expensive and more difficult for 'young adults'. Tamara's purpose is to give a generation the collective knowledge that it isn't just them...that for a vast majority of them who work extremely hard and play by the rules, a headwind does exist that was not there a generation ago. Ultimately, I think she is saying keep working hard, but be sure to engage in the process and plug back in and lets see what solutions exist to remove as much of that headwind as is sensible, policy wise, to do so. Housing is more expensive, raising a child is more expensive, those at the bottom of the payscale have less job security--those things are real- and Draut makes this unquestionable with her expert use of statistics. The book was as didactic as it was cathartic and its about time our generation emerged with a reasoned voice and said we can make it easier for those that follow--I think Mrs. Draut has provided the foundation for that awakening. My wife and I are going to keep working hard--like almost all of our generation--and raise our kids properly, as we always have. And thanks to 'Strapped', we can now drown out those harmful voices of inter-generational shame, and substitute them with humanizing FACTS that show us we are not alone...the headwind might not go away, but this book has made us aware of it and allowed us to understand it...and that I think is Draut's real gift to us all with this great book.

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