Median earnings for full-time US workers aged 18 to 34 have fallen nearly 10 percent since 2000, after adjusting for inflation, to below 1980s levels, according to The Wall Street Journal. This drop means young people, many of whom are also shouldering big student loan debt, have had a hard time saving money and building the good credit needed to secure a mortgage and buy a house elsewhere. The mobility of young workers has been a tremendous asset to the US economy, according to The Atlantic article. In previous decades, cities like New York and Los Angeles attracted 20-some-things with educational or professional opportunities, and then those 20-somethings would migrate to places where they could settle down with a family and buy a spacious house after a few years in the city. This geographic dispersal of highly-skilled workers meant that the gains of states with stronger economies could be spread to those with weaker ones.