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The global youth unemployment crisis


Henny

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As a large number of AVENites just so happen to be young, this might be of particular interest.

Felix Salmon, a well-renowned financial journalist, has written a blog post.

When Occupy Wall Street launched, there were hopes and fears that it would recapitulate the Arab Spring. Those hopes and fears sprang largely from a simple fact: that both OWS and the Arab Spring are characterized in large part by angry, unemployed young people.

As we come to the end of 2011, it’s worth taking note of the fact that stunningly high youth-unemployment numbers are increasingly a global phenomenon — and that this is a new thing, which postdates the financial crisis, and which doesn’t seem to be improving anywhere.

Here are the numbers for a few key Eurozone countries: you can see not only that Spain and Greece have almost unthinkably high youth unemployment approaching 50%, but also that Ireland, in particular, has seen its youth unemployment rate go through the roof since the crisis, from below 10% to over 30%.

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And don’t think that the US is any better, it isn’t. The US measures youth unemployment once a year, in July, and that series looks like this:

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he thing to note here is not just the absolute level — youth unemployment is now 18.1%, and for blacks it’s 31% — but also the sharp rise. Countries differ in how they measure unemployment, but however it’s measured, it’s going up alarmingly, and the level in the US is in exactly the same ballpark as the levels we saw in the Middle East which caused the Arab Spring. We’re lower than Egypt and Tunisia, but we’re higher than Morocco and Syria:

imf_youth_unemployment.jpg

The Economist had a great article on youth unemployment in September, saying that its negative repercussions “will be felt for decades, both by those affected and by society at large”. In peripheral European countries, youth unemployment causes a massive brain drain, and in all countries there’s a clear link between youth unemployment and the crime rate. In turn, if a higher crime rate leads to a higher incarceration rate, then a significant chunk of a whole generation essentially loses the opportunity to have a successful career, since having prison on your resume tends to be very harmful indeed for job prospects.

And as far as total future national income and wellbeing is concerned, we’re causing huge amounts of damage here:

Youth unemployment leaves a “wage scar” that can persist into middle age. The longer the period of unemployment, the bigger the effect. Take two men with the same education, literacy and numeracy scores, places of residence, parents’ education and IQ. If one of them spends a year unemployed before the age of 23, ten years later he can expect to earn 23% less than the other. For women the gap is 16%. The penalty persists, though it shrinks; at 42 it is 12% for women and 15% for men…

Unemployment of all sorts is linked with a level of unhappiness that cannot simply be explained by low income. It is also linked to lower life expectancy, higher chances of a heart attack in later life, and suicide.

As for the particular case of America, one big effect of the lack of jobs for young people is a significant rise in student-loan debt. The Economist drily notes that “as they build up debts, not all these students will be improving their job prospects”.

The global financial crisis had many causes, and there’s a lot of blame to go around. But the one group which is almost entirely blameless is the group being hit the hardest, over the long term, by the crisis. And I worry very much about how the global economy will fare in decades to come as this cohort of workers, angry and deeply scarred by the post-crash economy, is tasked with driving economic growth.

This week Dagens Nyheter had a longer interview with Anders Borg, Swedish financial minister. Of course, Dagens Nyheter tends to have a longer interview with him every week, but this time he spoke of youth unemployment:

Anders Borg [...] labels youth unemployment as a complex societal problem which nobody has managed to solve during the last thirty years. But according to him there are effective solutions:

"We must scrutinize practices in vocational training, which don't hold high enough quality. It's also about setting up working apprenticeship systems."

Think of all the years that have passed - 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - without anyone managing to pull off the "solutions" which are after all "effective"!

Sarcasm aside, he is right in that is a complex problem. As complex as the underlying crisis, which means that it cannot be solved through reformed vocational training.

Different countries measure unemployment in different ways. To compare numbers is tricky, but the historical factor becomes obvious if one compares the fast increase of young unemployed everywhere, even in the US. Where or what the solution is shall remain unsaid, but the thing is: If youth unemployment is a global and historical phenomenon, it is not a "political question" which is seperate of the glocal crisis' larger context.

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I am not 'youth', therefore I am just another unemployed bum, rather than a tragic sign of our economy and educational pressures.

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I'm not youth either, so I'm just another person who's too old to be hired.

Believe it or not, being poor/unemployed is no scarier for one age group than for another. And crises are now the norm.

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Is it possible that some young people today (certainly I don't mean "all young people") feel entitled because this generation today was raised to feel entitled, and therefore a lot of them won't take "lower level" type jobs, like cleaning up, working in a grocery store, washing cars, etc.? I think some of them are waiting for a "cool job" to come along and won't work at fast food place.

Or maybe I'm just being a grouch?

I know there's a recession, but I was going through a parking lot and a teenager came up and asked me for money. "Lady, can I have a few bucks?" I was walking to the Dollar Store, which had a "help wanted" sign in the window. I ignored the kid and kept walking. But I felt like saying, "For cripes sakes, kid, lookit, there's a help wanted sign in that store window. Go over there, fill out an application. They need someone to stock shelves over there!" But that would be judgmental.

I feel sorry for people who need jobs and don't have them and really want to work, but that episode made me wonder.

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I'm a youth (now 18) and its impossible for me to get a job. The college can't hire me because they're only hiring students who need financial aid, since so many people keep applying. There's only been three places who had an open position that I could apply to within my town and the next city over without it being too far of a drive: a subway, a packaging place, and a grocery store, which I sent in an application. I only got a call back from one of them, and there were so many people coming back in for an interview, each one only took about ten minutes.

I can't even find a volunteer position anywhere. Everywhere I've filled out an application for volunteering, they either told me that there were too many people volunteering already or I couldn't fit whatever hours they needed because of my schedule.

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In England, the travel costs are phenomenal, so you have to factor that in. The world over, there are too many people and too few jobs.

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The Great WTF

I've watched some of my friends from high school struggle to find jobs for the last three years. Only one has succeeded of a cluster of about 20. The only reason my boyfriend and I have jobs is because we had previous work experience from when our parents or siblings wrangled us jobs in high school.

Yeah, a LOT of my generation thinks they're entitled and don't want "low brow" jobs. A lot of adults think that way, too, but there is so much more to it. Many employers don't have the time to teach someone completely green or simply do not want to. The job market where I am is completely over-saturated and trying to find a job here is paramount to playing a slot machine. No matter how many apps you fill out and how many people you talk to, it's still all about luck.

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Certainly there are some youth who are just really picky, feel some sort of entitlement to a good job, won't work entry-level jobs, etc., (I know a few people like this) but there really are quite a number of people who have have a good level of education under their belts, experience from other jobs, and yet still can't find work or can't find work in their field. Of course, if you go to university and get a fine arts degree, well, you can't expect too much.

However, in my graduating year (2010), many of my nursing classmates had difficulty findings jobs, including me. I sent out roughly 40 applications/resumes over about 4 months to hospitals and nursing homes all over the province and only got offered a small handful of interviews (I think about 4 - I stopped counting after the 2nd because that was the job I scooped up xD). Still, this job required me to move about 400 km away from my friends and family, all on my own, but I did it because I needed a job. I know several other nurses who graduated with me who didn't find jobs until months after I did, some having to relocate even further. And this is nursing, which is such a huge field and is always recommended as a job that hires a lot and has good job security!

Other people make compromises just for jobs, too. My friend (a microbiology major, currently working on her Master's) applied for a job as a lab assistant (or something like that). The interviewer said he could offer the job to her but said she was overqualified. It was really her only chance at getting a job related to her field so she said she didn't care, she just wanted a job to help pay for school.

What's worrying is that a lot of jobs require some form of job experience to get hired. But, if it's your first job, then how would you get that experience? Those who are in fields where you can do co-op placements and the like are pretty lucky, but what about those who aren't? My friend was an English major and then went to college for journalism. She had a journalism placement in her final semester of school, but when she graduated, they weren't hiring. She decided to take on a volunteer position there while still working at her retail job to make money. The volunteer journalist position wasn't leading her anywhere and was taking up too much of her time that could have been spent earning money to pay off debt, so she quit and continued her retail job, despite hating it. However, it was difficult finding work outside of retail because she had no experience except for retail. She finally recently found an entry-level office job but it took her several years to get there.

How is this different from previous generations? Say, 50 years ago, you could graduate from high school and enter directly into a job. If you had a university degree, you were pretty much guaranteed a job, even if it wasn't in your field (my dad graduated with a major in history and landed a job first as a science teacher and then later as an accountant; I asked him how this was possible and he said in those days, it just was). You would slowly built up your experience and skills within that field, climbing up the ladder to bigger and better positions. Nowadays, this is being delayed due to unemployment or fewer opportunities for youth. A high school diploma is practically worthless if you want to get a good job - you need some form of higher education or take on an apprenticeship kind of program/job to do better than flipping burgers or something. Even when youths can find jobs, they're contract, casual, or part-time work that make it difficult to begin this "climbing up" process. As a result, people put off big milestones like starting families, buying a house, etc. Like my retail friend and her boyfriend, they waited until she got the office job to move to a better apartment and get engaged.

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Believe it or not, being poor/unemployed is no scarier for one age group than for another. And crises are now the norm.

Yeah, I know, I'm terrified that I won't be able to find any kind of job when I really need it.

Perhaps I could be considered slightly entitled in that I don't want a fast food job, at least not one that is involved in making the food, but I would be happy to have any kind of job so long as I was getting paid and trained well. The training is a big thing for me because I have had a (very short) job before where I wasn't being trained well and I couldn't handle it. I finally quit when I was crying on my way to work. It was not worth the emotional stress.

I really wish I could get a job. I just want to have something to do on breaks, really.

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Is it possible that some young people today (certainly I don't mean "all young people") feel entitled because this generation today was raised to feel entitled, and therefore a lot of them won't take "lower level" type jobs, like cleaning up, working in a grocery store, washing cars, etc.? I think some of them are waiting for a "cool job" to come along and won't work at fast food place.

Or maybe I'm just being a grouch?

I know there's a recession, but I was going through a parking lot and a teenager came up and asked me for money. "Lady, can I have a few bucks?" I was walking to the Dollar Store, which had a "help wanted" sign in the window. I ignored the kid and kept walking. But I felt like saying, "For cripes sakes, kid, lookit, there's a help wanted sign in that store window. Go over there, fill out an application. They need someone to stock shelves over there!" But that would be judgmental.

I feel sorry for people who need jobs and don't have them and really want to work, but that episode made me wonder.

Walk into your local McDonalds and take note of how many people in their teens and 20's work there. Go to your local grocery store and count the number of cashiers and baggers that look college-age. And if there aren't many, notice how many of the positions are already taken up by people that are older.

It's hard to find job prospects when all you've got to work with are leftovers and internships these days.

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Is it possible that some young people today (certainly I don't mean "all young people") feel entitled because this generation today was raised to feel entitled, and therefore a lot of them won't take "lower level" type jobs, like cleaning up, working in a grocery store, washing cars, etc.? I think some of them are waiting for a "cool job" to come along and won't work at fast food place.

Or maybe I'm just being a grouch?

I know there's a recession, but I was going through a parking lot and a teenager came up and asked me for money. "Lady, can I have a few bucks?" I was walking to the Dollar Store, which had a "help wanted" sign in the window. I ignored the kid and kept walking. But I felt like saying, "For cripes sakes, kid, lookit, there's a help wanted sign in that store window. Go over there, fill out an application. They need someone to stock shelves over there!" But that would be judgmental.

I feel sorry for people who need jobs and don't have them and really want to work, but that episode made me wonder.

Walk into your local McDonalds and take note of how many people in their teens and 20's work there. Go to your local grocery store and count the number of cashiers and baggers that look college-age. And if there aren't many, notice how many of the positions are already taken up by people that are older.

It's hard to find job prospects when all you've got to work with are leftovers and internships these days.

I returned to Uni as a Mature student in IT, I worked during the course, as I had a mortgage to pay. On graduating, the first job I had was £10,000 less than the last job I'd had before Uni. But it had opportunities to be involved in and learn more about IT. After a few years, I left, took out a loan and paid £4,000 for this IT course, the best thing they taught me, was how to interview well and to write a great CV.

Anyway, when I finished the course, I started looking for jobs, I had no money coming in, had a big mortgage to pay and only some recruitment agency work lined up. So being very wise (not), I went to visit my friends in Spain, oh well. :blink:

Anyway, when I returned and got off the plane, a recruitment agent phoned me, I had already struck up a good relationship with her over the phone, the first time she phoned me, we gossiped for 2.5 hours. I was on the phone to her, from the time I got off the plane, until I got home, whilst she tried to convince me to go to this interview. I was in IT, but knew nothing about any of the skills listed in the job spec and I was thinking this work I had lined up already, was ok until I found a job locally.

I relented and went to the interview in the end. Before the interview, I had printed stuff off about the company, but had no time to read it,so knew nothing about them at all, except their address (over a hundred miles from where I lived). I went into the interview room, placed the company info I had got from the net on the table and asked to be excused, as I needed the toilet.

When I returned, he said, I can see you know all about the company, so I won't ask you any questions, phew. He then asked me technical stuff that I knew nothing about it, but he asked me to guess, I luckily guessed right and got the job. I was taken on as a trainee at 46, never really understood why though? :blink:

So I guess my rules for getting a job are: (Though we are all different, what works for one, may not work for another)

1) For a career,(you need to look for training, but not be worried about the pay.

2) Take a vocational degree.

3) Take risks.

4) Work hard.

5) Have a 'can do' attitude

6) Create your own luck.

7) Have natural luck.

8.)Be prepared to move away from home.

9) Put your CV on all the job sites. (I put mine on 14 sites).

10) If you have experience, then get a recruitment agent (They usually find you through your on-line CV).

11) Don't worry about not having the necessary skills.

12) Have a well presented CV.

13) Never let age be a barrier.

14) And finally....Have a holiday in Spain :)

I wish you luck, form the years I have spent unemployed, I know how horrible it is and how some people throw it in your face!!!

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My friend (a microbiology major, currently working on her Master's) applied for a job as a lab assistant (or something like that). The interviewer said he could offer the job to her but said she was overqualified.

I found this to be a huge problem. Good jobs require experience that I didn't have, and bad jobs wouldn't hire me because I was overqualified. I ended up working for free for about six months, then working for close to nothing for another 1.5 years at a job I was considered overqualified for, just to get the experience I needed to get hired for an actual job. I was lucky that I even got those shitty opportunities (and that I had the luxury of being supported while I worked for free).

The job I have now is the first job in 3 years that I've had that pays a reasonable amount, and it was 100% pure luck that I got it. My girlfriend, who is very very chatty with strangers, happened to meet a girl whose friend owned a law firm that just lost a bunch of attorneys. She had to hire someone quick and there I was. If it wasn't for that lucky break, I'd still be earning close to the poverty line working for a drug addict.

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Regardless of statistics, I haven't found there to be a shortage of jobs. I think the world is full of work, it's just that if you are standing around and waiting for a dream job to land on your lap without working for it, then there might be a problem somewhere. There are lots and lots of relatively decent jobs that might not even require previous work experience or formal education, and they pay well enough too. You just have to be active in securing them to yourself. Another matter altogether is if you're aiming for the better vacancies.

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How is this different from previous generations? Say, 50 years ago, you could graduate from high school and enter directly into a job. If you had a university degree, you were pretty much guaranteed a job, even if it wasn't in your field (my dad graduated with a major in history and landed a job first as a science teacher and then later as an accountant; I asked him how this was possible and he said in those days, it just was). You would slowly built up your experience and skills within that field, climbing up the ladder to bigger and better positions.

I'll tell you one way it's different: women didn't get jobs 50 years ago. One-half of the population had almost no chance of getting hired.

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How is this different from previous generations? Say, 50 years ago, you could graduate from high school and enter directly into a job. If you had a university degree, you were pretty much guaranteed a job, even if it wasn't in your field (my dad graduated with a major in history and landed a job first as a science teacher and then later as an accountant; I asked him how this was possible and he said in those days, it just was). You would slowly built up your experience and skills within that field, climbing up the ladder to bigger and better positions.

I'll tell you one way it's different: women didn't get jobs 50 years ago. One-half of the population had almost no chance of getting hired.

Well said :)

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The Great WTF

Regardless of statistics, I haven't found there to be a shortage of jobs. I think the world is full of work, it's just that if you are standing around and waiting for a dream job to land on your lap without working for it, then there might be a problem somewhere. There are lots and lots of relatively decent jobs that might not even require previous work experience or formal education, and they pay well enough too. You just have to be active in securing them to yourself. Another matter altogether is if you're aiming for the better vacancies.

I want to live where you do, then, because unemployment is growing out here by the day with no end in sight.

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Last summer I got turned down for a job doing photocopying and scanning because they found someone who already had a university degree.

So yeah, I'm scared of what will happen after I graduate.

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:(

The whole job market thing is actually frightening to me. It's not a feeling of entitlement, but more of a phobia, so it makes me angry if self-righteous older people blame people like me for not having a job. I try to work really hard in college, doing the best I can, but I often get the feeling that it's just not enough and I'm likely to live in poverty anyway, especially because I'm a Fine Arts major and I plan on going into teaching...so I just see a long road of not having money.

I have this mentality that I've gone so long without a job, (now 20) that no one would ever want to hire me, even for lower level positions. And I just feel like it's all so alien to me, I just have so many fears of being a bumbling fool and being a useless employee anyway.

It's less about self entitlement really, than thinking that I really, really am not what lower level employers want anyway, just clumsy and clueless. I'm better at making art and writing papers.

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Regardless of statistics, I haven't found there to be a shortage of jobs. I think the world is full of work, it's just that if you are standing around and waiting for a dream job to land on your lap without working for it, then there might be a problem somewhere. There are lots and lots of relatively decent jobs that might not even require previous work experience or formal education, and they pay well enough too. You just have to be active in securing them to yourself. Another matter altogether is if you're aiming for the better vacancies.

Okay then, if you don't mind, where do you or did you look for your current job or past jobs? I know I have trouble finding places to apply to (and even then I hardly ever get a response). So, if you don't mind, help a poor fella out?

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Regardless of statistics, I haven't found there to be a shortage of jobs. I think the world is full of work, it's just that if you are standing around and waiting for a dream job to land on your lap without working for it, then there might be a problem somewhere. There are lots and lots of relatively decent jobs that might not even require previous work experience or formal education, and they pay well enough too. You just have to be active in securing them to yourself. Another matter altogether is if you're aiming for the better vacancies.

Okay then, if you don't mind, where do you or did you look for your current job or past jobs? I know I have trouble finding places to apply to (and even then I hardly ever get a response). So, if you don't mind, help a poor fella out?

I'm originally from Finland. I think the level of unemployment is under 8% there now. There's about 5 million people in Finland so it's a small country. Then again, Finland and the other Scandinavian countries have very low unemployment levels in comparison to the other EU countries and US. A large part of that 8% are people who just don't want to work even if they could, because there are more vacancies than there are potential employees. They can afford to be unemployed because the society funds their living if they so choose. The average monthly financial support for the unemployed is about 1000 euros, more or less, depending on a few factors. To afford the system, there has to be high taxes: if you earn more than 5000 euros a month before taxes, up to 60% of your income will be taxed. That is also why it can be an attractive idea to work abroad where the payment for the same job is bigger and the taxes lower.

I was offered a job based off of a nuclear research site situated in Central Europe which I accepted. The placement didn't come easily though. Suffice to say, I couldn't have gotten it just based on a colorful CV. There has to be something about your image and personality that makes you an attractive candidate for the recruiter. In the end, they want see more than just core competence. A lot has been written on the subject.

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A large part of that 8% are people who just don't want to work even if they could, because there are more vacancies than there are potential employees.

Oh, so your argument basically boils down to the usual worn out liberal psuedo-psychology. Since you say "a lot has been written on the subject" I'd like to some sources on that. I'd also like to hear an explanation as to why youth unemployment rose so hard everywhere in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

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A large part of that 8% are people who just don't want to work even if they could, because there are more vacancies than there are potential employees.

Oh, so your argument basically boils down to the usual worn out liberal psuedo-psychology. Since you say "a lot has been written on the subject" I'd like to some sources on that. I'd also like to hear an explanation as to why youth unemployment rose so hard everywhere in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

A lot has been written on the subject of how to better yourself as a potential employee, which I was referring to in case you misinterpreted my meaning for some reason. Also, I don't deny the validity of studies concerning universal (un)employment. I merely stated my individual observations based on my experiences in my environment. I'm not really interested in debating or proving anything, I'll leave that to your "capable" hands :lol:

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I was offered a job based off of a nuclear research site situated in Central Europe which I accepted. The placement didn't come easily though. Suffice to say, I couldn't have gotten it just based on a colorful CV. There has to be something about your image and personality that makes you an attractive candidate for the recruiter. In the end, they want see more than just core competence. A lot has been written on the subject.

I know employers want people who are out going, sociable, will make nice, will do their work well, look nice, look professional, have experience, and are willing to carry out orders.

The problem is, I'm not those things. I am a hard worker, I'll do what you give me to do, just don't expect me to make any friends while I do it and don't expect me not to speak my mind. I don't really like being social and I'm horribly shy so that tends to kill me. The crazy part is that I interview really well. It's just that most places that I apply to (and probably will apply to in the future) ask for online applications. And then I never get a call back. Maybe it's just how I built my resume or answer the surveys they occasional have (which is truthfully as that is the best way to go). I dunno. I'm glad you have a good job, though, good for you.

your argument basically boils down to the usual worn out liberal psuedo-psychology

What do you mean when you say pseudo-psychology exactly? Do you mean biased studies that give biased results? And if so, can you list any studies about the subject that aren't biased? I'm just sort of lost on the subject, really, looking for some sort of rule book or something, I guess.

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I was offered a job based off of a nuclear research site situated in Central Europe which I accepted. The placement didn't come easily though. Suffice to say, I couldn't have gotten it just based on a colorful CV. There has to be something about your image and personality that makes you an attractive candidate for the recruiter. In the end, they want see more than just core competence. A lot has been written on the subject.

I know employers want people who are out going, sociable, will make nice, will do their work well, look nice, look professional, have experience, and are willing to carry out orders.

The problem is, I'm not those things. I am a hard worker, I'll do what you give me to do, just don't expect me to make any friends while I do it and don't expect me not to speak my mind. I don't really like being social and I'm horribly shy so that tends to kill me. The crazy part is that I interview really well. It's just that most places that I apply to (and probably will apply to in the future) ask for online applications. And then I never get a call back. Maybe it's just how I built my resume. I dunno. I'm glad you have a good job, though, good for you.

Speaking your mind and not bothering to build up relationships, may affect your prospects. Every company I have worked for, has relied on each of us doing favours for one-another and building up relationships. With my present company, those people who have spoken their mind, well, they've all been made redundant, unfortunately.

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A large part of that 8% are people who just don't want to work even if they could, because there are more vacancies than there are potential employees.

Oh, so your argument basically boils down to the usual worn out liberal psuedo-psychology. Since you say "a lot has been written on the subject" I'd like to some sources on that. I'd also like to hear an explanation as to why youth unemployment rose so hard everywhere in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

A lot has been written on the subject of how to better yourself as a potential employee, which I was referring to in case you misinterpreted my meaning for some reason. Also, I don't deny the validity of studies concerning universal (un)employment. I merely stated my individual observations based on my experiences in my environment. I'm not really interested in debating or proving anything, I'll leave that to your "capable" hands :lol:

If you're going to make ludicruous claims, be sure to be ready to back them up. Those that will not allow an argument are weak in their conviction.

your argument basically boils down to the usual worn out liberal psuedo-psychology

What do you mean when you say pseudo-psychology exactly? Do you mean biased studies that give biased results? And if so, can you list any studies about the subject that aren't biased? I'm just sort of lost on the subject, really, looking for some sort of rule book or something, I guess.

I'm talking about blaming individual faults when it's clearly a complex, collective phenomenon, most often using dubious anecdotes to do so. Samael's post is a pretty straight forward example.

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That in neoliberal planning youth unemployment tends to be just as in-built a factor as inflation tends to be a Keynesian ditto is becoming apparent. We see that nearly all EU countries have a deeply problematic youth unemployment, which to a high degree seems to be intertwined with the Euro crisis and the hardest hit countries ("PIIGS" foremost). That most countries are pushing for higher retirement age will hardly counteract this. Politicians seem to think that the solution is more neoliberalism; that is, smash the unions, implement insecure ways of employment ("precarisation"), lowered employer fee, worse unemployment aid. Which is fully baroque considering youth unemployment as a real factor appears to have arisen with neoliberalism, and escalated at the pace of its implementation (in Sweden it is felt during the noughties, for example). One gets the feeling that what circulates is ideology in this debate, with little rooting in reality.

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I'm not really interested in debating or proving anything,

Just interested in implying that people are lazy and then running to hide, apparently.

I could list 10 people right now who have followed all the expert advice to get a job and are still unemployed. It comes down to numbers.

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I'm not really interested in debating or proving anything,

Just interested in implying that people are lazy and then running to hide, apparently.

I could list 10 people right now who have followed all the expert advice to get a job and are still unemployed. It comes down to numbers.

It does indeed. Youth unemployment is more evident now because in the past, when there were adequate jobs across the employment spectrum, young people could either directly enter professions or enter trades through apprenticeship programs. They were hired in professions a little more readily than older people, because they cost less money and were seen to be less rigid in attitudes than older people; they were hired in trades because they were cheaper. Now the manufacturing sector has dropped radically, except in the Far East (primarily China), and therefore trades are not hiring; in the professions, jobs are down also and young people tend not to have degrees which emphasize the professions which are still hiring.

But that isn't really specific to young people; it's just that young people no longer have an advantage over older people. Both demographics are hurting in this job market.

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Surely some young people, especially those who attended college, feel entitled to a better job than they can get. But many, I think, don't. They simply feel embarrassed or feel like a failure for not being able to get a better job. I think they've been led to believe that they could, should, and would get better jobs. By whom? Partly, and I think most significantly, by the previous generation, for whom getting a good job with a college degree really was easier because fewer people had college degrees back then. Nowadays there is a glut of people with college, especially liberal arts, degrees*, and I don't think younger or older folks realize this change or what it means. It means that young people shouldn't feel embarrassed for having to work retail or food service, but instead they feel like they're not living up to what the older generations expects of them, and, therefore, what they expect of themselves, which is not realistic anymore. I think young people are frustrated because they feel misled, and because they feel like disappointments, and they don't know what to do about it.

Well, they need to get over the embarrassment, etc., but if they need the money to pay off college, which has gotten exorbitantly expensive, the lower-paying jobs they can get often just won't cut it. No wonder they are frustrated.

*South Korea is currently an extreme example of too many college degrees.

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