A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau has found that one in five young adults in America are living in poverty, the highest level ever recorded.

CNS News is reporting on the new survey, entitled “Young Adults: Then and Now” which found that diminishing employment opportunities are having an historic impact on the wallets of 18 to 34 year-olds in America.

“More millennials are living in poverty today, and they have lower rates of employment, compared with their counterparts in 1980,” the Census states. “One in five young adults lives in poverty (13.5 million people), up from one in seven (8.4 million people) in 1980.”

Much of this is due to an overall lack of jobs for people in that age group.

“Today, 65 percent of young adults are employed, down from 69 percent in 1980,” reports the Census.

This is compared to 69.3 percent who were employed in 1980, 70.6 percent in 1990, and 68.7 percent in 2000.

As a result, poverty rates have been on the rise. In 1980, 14.1 percent of Americans age 18 to 34 were living in poverty. There was little change between 1980 and 1990 when the number rose to 14.3. However, in 2000, it leaped to 15.3. Between 2009 and 2013, the poverty level among millennials reached its highest level ever recorded – 19.7percent.

The December 4 edition of TIME Magazine reported that the median income among millennials dropped from $37,000 in 2000 to $33,000 in 2013, resulting in more than 30 percent of this age group continuing to live with at least one parent. That’s way up from 23 percent in 1980 who were forced to stay home due to financial difficulties.

“But it’s not all bad news,” TIME reports. “The new Census numbers show that young Americans are much more diverse and educated than previous generations. About 22 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher (up from 16 percent in 1980), and a quarter have grown up speaking a language other than English at home (up from 10 percent in 1980).”

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