To accomplish this, the AARP deploys its vast lobbying machine. The organization spent $25 million on lobbying in the 2012 presidential election cycle and more than $16 million in the 2014 midterm election cycle. Based on money spent lobbying, the AARP consistently ranks in the top 1 percent of organizations tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics.

At the state level, public sector unions keep in place defined-benefit pension plans that promise generous payouts to today’s retirees at the expense of everyone else. While union bosses are free to negotiate favorable contract terms with the politicians that they bankroll, critical parties are left out—taxpayers and those who will be responsible for paying unfunded liabilities in the future.

Many other interest groups lobby for policies that harm young people, such as minimum wage hikes and other labor market regulations that prevent the unskilled from entering the job market. Occupational licensing laws stay in place thanks to the efforts of those who already hold those licenses and want to defend their favored positions. Teachers’ unions protect the jobs of poor educators and stand in the way of meaningful education reforms that would greatly benefit students and younger, more effective teachers.

Young Americans have no American Association of Young Persons to defend them. No lobby exists for getting rid of occupational licensing, and efforts to reform entitlement programs have gained only limited traction in Washington.