Empty nests don’t stay empty as long as they used to.
Youth unemployment rates in the U.S. are the highest they’ve been since the Great Depression – by some accounts 25 percent, by other reports twice that – and show no signs of getting any better. All across the country, college graduates are moving back in with their parents, unable to find even entry-level jobs.
According to reports cited by Time magazine, as many as 85 percent of college graduates have been moving back home for lack of work.
There’s no shame in that, but there’s not much of a future in it, either.
Then there’s the little nugget that many of these young grads have up to a six-figure student loan to pay off.
And if highly educated workers are feeling pinched, imagine how tough it is on less-educated workers.
The longer this goes on – this is at least the third year of dismal employment for youths – the more difficult it becomes for younger Americans to build up work skills and résumés, and the more likely it is they become disillusioned and disenfranchised.
“Someone that started as a (high school) freshman back in, say, 2007 has never known anything other than a job market where they look for work for weeks and haven’t been able to find something,” Michael Saltsman, a research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute, told National Public Radio.
It all has a disturbing domino effect: With kids coming back home, parents find themselves financially supporting them once again. In many cases, it cuts into nest eggs. Yet another domino: Delayed retirements leave less room for new hires, usually of the young.
It’s a vicious circle. And it’s one we’ve seen our European friends run for years, without improvement.
Throwing borrowed money at the problem, as they’ve done, is not the solution. A thriving private sector is. The best thing government can do is set the right climate for job growth – low taxes and livable regulations are a great start – and then get out of the way.
At bottom, we’re not talking about numbers and percentages; we’re talking about lives.
In this case, our hatchlings’.
The best remedy for job growth is 'consumer confidence'... Every professional opinion I hear.. (and I listen to many) indicate that we must stabilize the debt problem with cuts and revenue. A lot of 'zealots' want a quick fix in the form of immediate 'downsizing', most professional economists want a 'Plan' to BEND the curve of spending so that in the near future we see at first a balance and then a decline. For all those who have contempt for government, well be careful for what you ask for... kinda like cutting your nose off to spite your face. Anyone who really thinks that a 'no deal' on the debt limit legislation would have been a good thing fall into Governor Perry's admonition about 'treasonous' behavior.
Biggest problem is these young graduates are not given a chance, with so many baby boomers who are qualified for retirement, but will not leave.
Baby boomers are a problem for young grads (which would mean the parents of the grad).
I needed a good laugh today.
In capitalism, the best come to the top, no matter the age. If I didn't have a job, I'd be making plans to do something extraordinary like some of the things on the Discovery Channel....sign on to an expedition down the Amazon, be an ice road trucker, swamp logger, alligator hunter, mine for gold in Alaska, join the military, go fight in some war as a mercenary, anything.
Allhans, it might be better if you didn't just completely dismiss someone's point as thought it were absurd. Many boomers are qualified for retirement but won't leave due to economic fears (which we all share). No one blames them, but it does present a problem for younger college graduates trying to get jobs. Also, a big problem is that many companies do not have the resources right now to train younger workers (college or no college--nothing beats experience).
With the cost of getting a higher education increasing every year, the days of mom and dad paying for their child's college education are gone. To be sure, there are still plenty of trust fund students in colleges, but those students generally have the connections to get jobs anyway. The majority of students are dependent on student loans to get through. As someone who pays $1K a month in student loans I can relate. And I'm not complaining--I knew what I was getting into when I signed up. But for those without jobs right now, they are in a tough position. Many are deferring their loans into the future. Meanwhile, the interest keeps compounding and then they're paying back the loans until their 90 years old. And nothing makes those loans go away.
It might help to mention that the Employment Policies Institute is not a research organization. It's one of many front groups created Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by lobbyist Rick Berman. They lobby for tobacco, hotels, beer distributors, taverns, and restaurant chains. Iffy and mostly anonymous donors, with most of these groups' funds going to Berman & Co. for management services.
tech, and that matters, Why? Are you disputing the statement?
Sure, lobbyists are out for the good of all mankind. There's no way they'll spin info that's favorable for their clients (or themselves). The guy has a laundry list of front groups he's set up. Seeing how some of his clients have been the American Beverage Institute (fighting against tougher drunk driving laws) and Phillip Morris (lobbying against tougher smoking regulations), I would take any statements they make with a grain of salt.
He said young people are having a hard time finding a job. That's it. Some spin job.....I guess.
Why does he say it? Because he is a lobbyist for restaurants that want to have laws to continue to pay some employees below minimum wage and to keep the minimum wage from rising (or to eliminate it). Like I said, lobbyists are in the game of getting laws favorable to their clients, not for those that are out there working or looking for jobs.
Maybe he says it because it's, I don't know, true? Any other possible underlying purpose is merely speculation.
People also might find their parents coming to live with them like folks used to do (Think the Waltons). When Mr. & Mrs. Joe Taxpayer can no longer afford to keep your parent or grandparent in a nursing home it will become necessary.
The days of massive disposable income and government-paid-for benefits are drawing to a close. I guess it was a nice ride while it lasted.
The babyboom actually started with those born in 1947. It was when THEY started to school that extra classrooms and teachers had to be added. They have yet to turn 65. So no, they are not the problem.
I know that those born in 46 are counted as babyboomers, but the grand swell (no pun intended) was 1947.
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