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View Full Version : Young Adults Are Suffering Under Obama



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...

avatar4321
09-17-2012, 09:38 PM
Yeah. Young adults are suffering alot.

gabosaurus
09-17-2012, 09:54 PM
Yeah. Young adults are suffering alot.

When they are not listening to their ipods, playing with their smart phones, using their parents' credit cards or driving their parents' cars, I suppose they suffer a lot. :rolleyes:

avatar4321
09-17-2012, 10:01 PM
When they are not listening to their ipods, playing with their smart phones, using their parents' credit cards or driving their parents' cars, I suppose they suffer a lot. :rolleyes:

Your contempt for the youth is duly noted, but not all young adults have the privilege of those things.

Kathianne
09-17-2012, 10:02 PM
Yeah. Young adults are suffering alot.

I remember someone not so long ago out of school, no good job offers and very frustrated. Wanted to get a start on life, but hadn't the money to break out on his own, stuck at home with parents. That was when the economy was better than today and the cost of college and law school hadn't gone totally off the rails.

Luckily he's happy today, has a job, wife, child. I'm betting that the empathy for those that are graduating today can be summoned.

Times certainly were easier when I graduated college in the 70's, I had my first job offer before I graduated. So did my fiance at the time. No problem getting married at 25, first baby at 26, stay at home in a house. Times are very different today and for young people many will be 35 or even older before they can think about marriage, without serious financial hardship.

gabosaurus
09-17-2012, 10:12 PM
Your contempt for the youth is duly noted, but not all young adults have the privilege of those things.

Depends on which youth you are talking about. I know many with wealth and many with nothing. Kids who want jobs can usually find them. Adults are not always so fortunate.

Kathianne
09-17-2012, 10:17 PM
Depends on which youth you are talking about. I know many with wealth and many with nothing. Kids who want jobs can usually find them. Adults are not always so fortunate.

Gabby, it's like you're living in an alternative universe. Did you read the article? This isn't about part time jobs, not that those are going to 16 year olds either, it's about HS and college grads, the later often with tens of thousands in debt. Perhaps you agree with me, there are ways of going to college without all that debt, even for poor kids. Besides the point though.

They are not getting jobs, other than minimum wage ones, which isn't enough to get on their own. Perhaps instead of finding ways to keep them 'on their parents insurance', Obama would have been well advised to find ways to encourage the jump starting of the economy and that wasn't by more entitlements.

gabosaurus
09-17-2012, 10:22 PM
What "alternative universe?" This particular economic situation has been going on for more than four years.

avatar4321
09-17-2012, 10:24 PM
College graduates arent kids. They are adults.

We need to stop pretending adults are helpless children. Heck, Teenagers arent helpless teenagers. We are creating a class of helpless adults who havent done a thing in their lives to take care of themselves and we wonder why our nation is in jeapardy.

Kathianne
09-17-2012, 10:26 PM
What "alternative universe?" This particular economic situation has been going on for more than four years.

Indeed. The implication that they aren't finding jobs is because they aren't looking is preposterous.

red states rule
09-18-2012, 02:59 AM
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/gmc10358620120917034000.jpg

cadet
09-18-2012, 07:32 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

Not to be rude, but DUH.

Part time jobs are easy enough to find. I had three at once a little while back, but finding an actual career job? Impossible. Every employer only wants someone with EXPERIENCE. With the bad economy, most only want a few people that they don't have to train at all. Makes it damn near impossible to get anything.

That's partially why I'm going military, so i can actually get some experience. Bam Bam wants to cut funds, but right now that's the only possible way for most of us to do anything.

And the settling down, having kids, and all that jazz, I don't think i could even get a ring. Let alone get a house. This guy i know from high school is working 2 part time jobs full time. (Hell of a lot of hours at pizza hut) And he still HAS to room with three other guys.

If corporations get their thumbs out of their asses, they'll realize that if you hire one of us, not only will we not have preconceived notions on how to do things (Usually wrong), they'll also have the opportunity to train us to be the best, and will keep us longer. Most of us know we have to work our asses of to keep any semblance of a job, so there's that too.

Now let's take a look at college costs. My dad went through college for a HELL of a lot less then I've ALREADY gone through. He followed mom to Florida and got married. If i even thought about doing something similar, I'd end up on the street with 40 grand in debt (+wedding stuff+child+no chance of getting a job) And he was about my age when he did this too.

And, to end my rant, this whole thread should be common sense. My generation's been bent over the barrel and shown the fifty states. (horrible bosses)

Kathianne
09-18-2012, 07:38 AM
Not to be rude, but DUH.

Part time jobs are easy enough to find. I had three at once a little while back, but finding an actual career job? Impossible. Every employer only wants someone with EXPERIENCE. With the bad economy, most only want a few people that they don't have to train at all. Makes it damn near impossible to get anything.

That's partially why I'm going military, so i can actually get some experience. Bam Bam wants to cut funds, but right now that's the only possible way for most of us to do anything.

And the settling down, having kids, and all that jazz, I don't think i could even get a ring. Let alone get a house. This guy i know from high school is working 2 part time jobs full time. (Hell of a lot of hours at pizza hut) And he still HAS to room with three other guys.

If corporations get their thumbs out of their asses, they'll realize that if you hire one of us, not only will we not have preconceived notions on how to do things (Usually wrong), they'll also have the opportunity to train us to be the best, and will keep us longer. Most of us know we have to work our asses of to keep any semblance of a job, so there's that too.

Now let's take a look at college costs. My dad went through college for a HELL of a lot less then I've ALREADY gone through. He followed mom to Florida and got married. If i even thought about doing something similar, I'd end up on the street with 40 grand in debt (+wedding stuff+child+no chance of getting a job) And he was about my age when he did this too.

And, to end my rant, this whole thread should be common sense. My generation's been bent over the barrel and shown the fifty states. (horrible bosses)

Well jobs for 'experience' that have a career path are not coming your way anytime soon. As the author noted in the linked article, healthy older people are not retiring as was expected. Folks in the middle, while they're still paying some of the bills for their 20 year olds, helping younger kids with college costs, helping their own elderly parents-who are also being squeezed as bad as their grandchildren, all while seeing a real drop in their investments, their homes, and their salaries. These folks aren't dreaming of retiring anymore, just avoiding disaster.

Oh yeah, they are younger than 55.

cadet
09-18-2012, 07:46 AM
Well jobs for 'experience' that have a career path are not coming your way anytime soon.......

I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about entry level jobs. They still want experience for those. And without having any whatsoever, most will just throw your application away because you're nothing compared to the hundreds of others.

Kathianne
09-18-2012, 07:49 AM
I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about entry level jobs. They still want experience for those. And without having any whatsoever, most will just throw your application away because you're nothing compared to the hundreds of others.

I do understand, what you are missing is that without movement upwards by those ahead of 'entry level jobs', there are no entry level jobs to move into. Without retirements, without folks changing jobs-which unless one thinks the company is teetering they are unlikely to do-no openings.