Kathianne
09-17-2012, 08:32 AM
Many of those just out of high schools and universities are finding it impossible to find jobs, even minimum wage jobs are hard to come by when out-of-work middle age people and formally retired seniors are competing for those same jobs.
While the image of lying in childhood room staring at fading Obama poster brings a chuckle, truth is these young adults are not getting married, starting families, buying homes, refrigerators, nursery supplies, etc., all the things that drive the economy...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-09-16/glen-reynolds-young-workers/57791256/1
...That "senior squeeze" is real enough, but seniors aren't the only ones being squeezed. At the other end of the demographic spectrum, young workers are having a dreadful time of it, too. Call that the "junior squeeze."
Young people younger than 30 are "desperate for jobs (http://abcnews.go.com/business/t/blogEntry?id=16723724)," as their cohort faces the worst unemployment prospects in decades. According to The Atlantic, last months' jobs report was an awful jobs report for young people because it demonstrated that new jobs just aren't being created at a sufficient rate to absorb all the young people entering the jobs market from high school and college. Wrote The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann, "In short, there are a lot more young adults still sitting at their computers scrounging around jobs boards for work than there should be at this point in the year."
There are. And it gets worse. Because of the senior squeeze mentioned earlier, older "gray-collar" (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-labor-seniors-20120903,0,4713974.story) workers are staying in, or re-entering, the jobs market to make up for the income they're losing due to lower interest rates, and to offset higher costs of living. These older workers, because of their already established track records, might be out-competing younger workers even in such entry-level areas as food-service jobs.
The old plan was that older workers would be able to leave the workforce for a comfortable retirement, opening up opportunities for younger workers. That plan isn't surviving the realities of $4 gasoline, fractional-percentage interest rates, and surging food and medicine prices. With the older workers not leaving, the jobs just aren't there for younger workers.
For many younger workers, of course, there's another aspect to the junior squeeze. Not only are they unable to find work, but within a few months of graduation they also face the hard reality of making student loan payments on the college (or law school, or business school, or graduate program) education that cost them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but that wasn't sufficient to land them a good-paying job upon completion. Call that a "triple junior squeeze."
But seniors and juniors can take comfort in knowing that others are feeling the pain. Though the 45- to 64-year-old cohort was the least affected by the recession, to the point that advertisers are targeting them with greater intensity than in the past, the folks in the middle aren't free and clear. First, those who become unemployed often have a tough time getting equally good replacement jobs. Second, those who continue to earn good incomes often find themselves supporting, or at least extending financial help to, both children and parents. Rather than squeezed, they're being stretched to cover the shortfalls of squeezed juniors and seniors...
While the image of lying in childhood room staring at fading Obama poster brings a chuckle, truth is these young adults are not getting married, starting families, buying homes, refrigerators, nursery supplies, etc., all the things that drive the economy...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-09-16/glen-reynolds-young-workers/57791256/1
...That "senior squeeze" is real enough, but seniors aren't the only ones being squeezed. At the other end of the demographic spectrum, young workers are having a dreadful time of it, too. Call that the "junior squeeze."
Young people younger than 30 are "desperate for jobs (http://abcnews.go.com/business/t/blogEntry?id=16723724)," as their cohort faces the worst unemployment prospects in decades. According to The Atlantic, last months' jobs report was an awful jobs report for young people because it demonstrated that new jobs just aren't being created at a sufficient rate to absorb all the young people entering the jobs market from high school and college. Wrote The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann, "In short, there are a lot more young adults still sitting at their computers scrounging around jobs boards for work than there should be at this point in the year."
There are. And it gets worse. Because of the senior squeeze mentioned earlier, older "gray-collar" (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-labor-seniors-20120903,0,4713974.story) workers are staying in, or re-entering, the jobs market to make up for the income they're losing due to lower interest rates, and to offset higher costs of living. These older workers, because of their already established track records, might be out-competing younger workers even in such entry-level areas as food-service jobs.
The old plan was that older workers would be able to leave the workforce for a comfortable retirement, opening up opportunities for younger workers. That plan isn't surviving the realities of $4 gasoline, fractional-percentage interest rates, and surging food and medicine prices. With the older workers not leaving, the jobs just aren't there for younger workers.
For many younger workers, of course, there's another aspect to the junior squeeze. Not only are they unable to find work, but within a few months of graduation they also face the hard reality of making student loan payments on the college (or law school, or business school, or graduate program) education that cost them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but that wasn't sufficient to land them a good-paying job upon completion. Call that a "triple junior squeeze."
But seniors and juniors can take comfort in knowing that others are feeling the pain. Though the 45- to 64-year-old cohort was the least affected by the recession, to the point that advertisers are targeting them with greater intensity than in the past, the folks in the middle aren't free and clear. First, those who become unemployed often have a tough time getting equally good replacement jobs. Second, those who continue to earn good incomes often find themselves supporting, or at least extending financial help to, both children and parents. Rather than squeezed, they're being stretched to cover the shortfalls of squeezed juniors and seniors...