Young Greeks Find 'The Math Just Doesn't Work' Amid Crisis. Hide caption"In Europe, we're trying to save banks by sacrificing an entire generation — my generation," says Marios Kyriakou, 24.
Joanna Kakissis/NPR "In Europe, we're trying to save banks by sacrificing an entire generation — my generation," says Marios Kyriakou, 24. The latest statistics show Greece and Spain with the highest unemployment rates in the eurozone, both at more than 26 percent. For young Greeks, the numbers are much worse: Nearly 60 percent of people under 25 are out of work, a figure that is expected to rise.
US states cut higher education spending by nearly a third. By Zac Corrigan 1 April 2013 Since the recession began, state governments have cut funding to public higher education by 28 percent.
This is the finding of a recent study published by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). What emerges is a devastating picture of the situation facing youth seeking an education, as over three quarters of undergraduate students in the US attend public colleges and universities. Titled “Recent Deep State Higher Education Cuts May Harm Students and the Economy for Years to Come,” the CBPP report describes the deep cuts in state spending and student aid and the resulting increases in tuition, cuts in jobs and infrastructure, and curtailment of services at the affected colleges and universities.
Nationwide, states are spending $2,353 or 28 percent less per student on higher education in fiscal year 2013 when compared to 2008, just before the recession triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Horrible Youth Labor Market. One of my pet peeves about the coverage surrounding the plight of young people in America is that it focuses heavily, and at times exclusively, on how well recent college graduates are doing.
Why people focus on this is a mystery to me. I suspect it is because the chattering classes are almost all college graduates, as are their friends. To them, being a recent college graduate is simply what it means to be a young person in the labor market. The focus on college graduates is pernicious for a couple of reasons. First, most young people are not college graduates.
America is raising a generation of interns. David Paul: Inequality Is Not a Problem That Taxes Can Fix. MILLENNIALS JUST AREN’T THAT INTO BUYING HOMES. BUT WHY? Millennials seem to prefer renting than buying homes.
Why You Should Be Hiring Millennials [Infographic] Millennials in the Workplace. Why Millennial Workers Aren't As Useless As You Thought. How those spoiled millennials will make the workplace better for everyone. Peter S. Goodman: Structural Unemployment Talk Is Nonsense. Remember that unemployment problem we used to have?
The one that politicians, pundits and policymakers used to talk about on a regular basis, debating how we might fix it? Well, forget about all that, because the problem is structural, meaning nothing can be done. So sayeth a loud slice of the econo-pundit class. Rather than traditional cyclical unemployment, which reflects a weakness in demand for goods and services and can be goosed with additional government spending, structural unemployment is impervious to traditional economic solutions. It results from a mismatch between available workers and needed jobs. College Graduates Flock to Unpaid Internships. Not leaving community for jobs.
Millenials Shun Suburbs. Why Millennials Don't Want To Buy Stuff. Millennials: Young, Broke, and Spending on Luxury. Shaun Spellman, a 27-year-old owner of an Internet marketing firm, recently paid $300 for the newest Android cell phone the day it was released, even though he believes it will drop in price within a few months.
But for Spellman, the benefit of having the latest technology is worth it. Though he's saving for an October wedding and a new home, "that doesn't stop me from making some purchases that I consider necessities. " He skimps in other areas, driving a 1997 Camry and eating out only when he has a daily deal coupon. RELATED: How Millennials Are Saving the Economy Spellman is part of a generation that represents the fastest-growing segment of luxury goods and services purchasers. According to a February report by American Express Business Insights, these young consumers increased their spending on premium luxury fashion by 33 percent in 2011 over the prior year, outpacing every other demographic, including boomers, which increased luxury spending by 19 percent. Millennials struggle with financial literacy. Paralyzed.
That's how Paige Worthy feels when she thinks about budgeting her money. "I freeze. I have no idea where to even start with this," the 29-year-old says. Worthy has held at least six jobs since graduating from college in 2005. She lives in Chicago, where she works as a publication director at a non-profit press association — but she plans to leave that job to do freelance content marketing starting next month. More Cheery Millennial News: Economcally Screwed. The socioeconomic reasons for Generation Squeezed. Already, batteries of indicators depict the Great Recession’s damage.
In a Pew survey last year, a quarter of 18-to-34-year-olds said they’d moved back with parents to save money. Getting a job has been time-consuming and often futile. In July, the unemployment rate among 18-to-29-year-olds was 12.7 percent. Counting people who dropped out of the labor market raises that to 16.7 percent, says Generation Opportunity, an advocacy group for the young. Among recent high-school graduates, unemployment rates are near half for African Americans, a third for Hispanics and a quarter for whites, notes the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.
The weak labor market hurts even job holders. Addressing Long-Term Unemployment for America’s Next Generation of Workers. The labor market news this month has been impressive, with above-expected job creation numbers, a continued dip in the unemployment rate, and falling jobless claims all giving reason for optimism about the state of the economic recovery.
However, the encouraging top-line figures mask persistent fragility in the labor market. Notably, long-term unemployment remains stubbornly high, particularly for young workers. Early jobs are critical for establishing future earnings and employment trajectories, thus the health of the labor market for younger workers may serve as a harbinger for the economy’s longer-term vibrancy. Young jobseekers continue to face historically poor employment prospects, and the employment picture for these workers has not improved at the same pace as other age groups.
While the conversation in Washington has focused on budget politics, policymakers who lose sight of the challenges facing young workers do so at great risk to the future health of the American economy.