Young People Falling Behind Economically

[bord_du_rasoir]

Marian Wright Edelman
President, Children's Defense Fund

Release Date: February 11, 2011

While there is a lot of talk today about jobs, there has been far too little attention paid to the job prospects of young people. A new report prepared for the Children’s Defense Fund shows young people have lost more ground economically than any other age

Comments

[blackjedii]

w/e it's not rich white people so who cares they have shoelaces which are kind of like bootsraps but they must learn to TIE THESE SHOELACES

[maladaptive]

Can I not read the chart? It looks like people who make 100-150k have more income than those who make 150-200k? Or is it just that that particular bracket is smaller than the one below it, while the people above just have a crapton of money to spend?

And ugh, I am feeling this so hard, and watching it happen to my friends (though from an admittedly privileged standpoint since we all have advanced degrees). A lot of them are in library science and they all have stories about how they can't get a job without 2-5 years experience after obtaining the degree in the field, so they can't get into the field to get the experience that's a requisite for all the jobs. That's right, all the work they did before getting the degree doesn't count.

Everyone wants experience from me, even for jobs that don't pay, and I need the job where I don't get paid for experience to get the jobs that do pay. Fuck the intern system so hard. =/

[bord_du_rasoir]

It looks like people who make 100-150k have more income than those who make 150-200k?

It's not that individuals in the 100-150k group have more money. It's that collectively as a group the 100-150k group has more money because there are more people in the 100-150k group than in the 150-200k group.

[maladaptive]

That's what I was thinking, but it threw me for a second.

[bord_du_rasoir]

I only know of one of my classmates from my master's program that went directly on to get a job in the field that might lead to a career for her in the field.

It's been my experience that most people I know get jobs because they know someone working there.

[santacruzsurf]

I wonder how the current economy will affect young adults in the future. I'm fortunate enough to be able to contribute a boatload to my 401k and a pension, but many of my friends don't have retirement benefits. I wonder if this is setting people up for not being able to afford retirement.

[bord_du_rasoir]

To be honest, I'm 28 and don't even really know what a 401K is. I mean, I know it's a retirement savings account, but that's all I know.

As people age out of their 20s and approach middle age, their income tends to increase. So, the only way that people in their 20s will be able to retire comfortably is to save more and live more frugally in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, than previous generations have had to do. Otherwise, we'll just have massive elderly poverty rates of 30-35% like we had before the 1960s rather than the 10-15% it is now.

[thecityofdis]

Yes, but the thing about retirement savings accounts like a 401(k) is that the investments increase exponentially over time. If you start one at 33 instead of at 23, you're making up for more than ten years worth of contributions - more like twenty, considering employer matching. It's virtually impossible for a lot of middle class folks, even successful ones, to play "catch up" in that sort of game by the time they're in their late thirties, especially since that age group tends to come with other obligations like a down payment on a house, a mortgage, children, paying for children's college, etc. etc.

tl;dr our generation is fucked, no really.

[tmlforsyth]

our generation is fucked, no really.
I hear you. It's one big reason why I am just not reproducing, plus I think it will get worse.

[influencethis]

Neither the fact that us young people make zilch nor the fact that racism is a huge factor into who gets hired surprises me.

I'm living under-utilization right now as a white lady with a BA. I work part-time at a job that *might* require a HS diploma, at the most, and this is the department that works closest to the people with the actual power. The people in other departments are either non-white and have been here since God was a boy, or otherwise new hires who are all, coincidentally, white dudes out of high school or white ladies with bachelor's

[thecityofdis]

Boom, this comment made me pregnant.

[influencethis]

I have never had a comment cause mpreg before. I am very excited about comment babies

[hinoema]

If this comment is any indication, I'm buying that book tonight.

[dragonhawker]

There's another trend which is contributing to keeping the younger workers poor. (And like all social injustices, probably hits minorities harder.) The people who make the bulk of the income now are older people who have been entrenched in their jobs for decades. They have unions, tenure, or whatever other forms of job security prevent their employers from being able to dick them around at will. They are a solid block of earning which resists all corporate efforts to reduce their pay, benefits, or hours

[deathchibi]

This, so much this. :( It's painful being given 36 hours or I can get 40 - if I don't eat or take any breaks. So we don't get benefits at all...