Obama Inaugural Speech: Will President Obama Fail Millennials for a Second Time?

Impact

Although President Obama already stepped into his second term with a quiet swearing-in ceremony at the White House on Sunday, it's the public Presidential Inauguration ceremony on Monday that we're waiting to see, and more importantly, the Inaugural Address.

As the president finalizes his speech, one of the nation's leading organizations advocating for 18-29 year olds, Generation Opportunity, is here to remind President Obama that he should acknowledge millennials' concerns because they are central to the prosperity of the nation in the future.

"Inauguration affords us a national opportunity both to reflect and to look ahead. As young people ponder the last four years, we remember a time of hardship and struggle, a time in which we were eager to contribute our skills, but have been denied access to the American Dream and have often had to sit on the sidelines," said Sean Kibby, Director of Strategic National Operations at Generation Opportunity, according to Yahoo News.

"Young people are asking the President and our elected leaders to do what they have failed to do on urgent issues like youth unemployment – take action and achieve real results," he added.

Over the past four years, 18-29 year olds have found less and less opportunity than ever in the nation's history, and now overwhelmingly cite unemployment as one of their chief concerns.

A Generation Opportunity poll shows just how frustrated young adults are with Washington.

— Only 29% of 18-29 year olds say that the economic policies coming out of Washington are helping them.

— 76% of 18-29 year olds believe that the lack of job opportunities is shrinking the American middle class.

— 55% are not confident that America will still be a global leader in five years if the U.S. continues along the same path as the last few years.

— Only 36% of millennials agree with the statement "generally speaking, things in the United States are heading in the right direction."

So when President Obama gives his speech on Monday, it is prudent that he keep us – the future faces of the nation, the millennials – and our woes and issues at the forefront of his mind, rather than making promises he has no intention of keeping – again.