The Idled Young Americans

[Póg mo 1,749]

Cutting benefits, pay and removing as many social protections as possible hasn't seemed to work, so perhaps it is time for a policy change?

THE idle young European, stranded without work by the Continent’s dysfunction, is one of the global economy’s stock characters. Yet it might be time to add another, even more common protagonist: the idle young American.

For all of Europe’s troubles — a left-right combination of sclerotic labor markets and austerity — the United States has quietly surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs. It’s not just Europe, either. Over the last 12 years, the United States has gone from having the highest share of employed 25- to 34-year-olds among large, wealthy economies to having among the lowest.

The grim shift — “a historic turnaround,” says Robert A. Moffitt, a Johns Hopkins University economist — stems from two underappreciated aspects of our long economic slump. First, it has exacted the harshest toll on the young — even harsher than on people in their 50s and 60s, who have also suffered. And while the American economy has come back more robustly than some of its global rivals in terms of overall production, the recovery has been strangely light on new jobs, even after Friday’s better-than-expected unemployment report. American companies are doing more with less. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/sunday-review/the-idled-young-americans.html?_r=1&

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Higher education is not only overpriced, it has created unrealistic expectations. Trade unions spend more money on issue advocacy than they do on apprentice training. Secondary schools no longer teach technical trades. This has been a long time coming. Good thing immigrants are filling all the vacancies left by retiring tradesmen, or society would have collapsed long ago. You don't know how rare it is today, to find a high school student that can change a simple wall switch.

Edited May 6, 2013 by The Patriot

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Higher education is not only overpriced, it has created unrealistic expectations. Trade unions spend more money on issue advocacy than they do on apprentice training. Secondary schools no longer teach technical trades. This has been a long time coming. Good thing immigrants are filling all the vacancies left by retiring tradesmen, or society would have collapsed long ago. You don't know how rare it is today, to find a high school student that can change a simple wall switch.

Also labor unionists are killing big companies. They are no longer about doing what is right for the workers , but perpetuating the fat cats at the labor unions and their political agenda.

We have a large Air Force base near here. Robins AFB.Largest employer in the Mid-state if not the state. It would be nuclear if it shut down. I have several buddies that work there. All they talk about is their gym time that every employee gets and how they spend hundreds of hours trying to get around the rules associated with it and who filed what grievance because of it. I can promise you they lose thousands of hours every month of productivity because of it, and people are not working out. That is jsut one small example of the contant labor circus that goes on there.

With another round of BRAC looming it is looking more and more likely that Robins may be on the block, The recently retired general who is head of the group here to help keep it open, stated clearly that it's number one problem that kills it's efficiency was an unproductive bloated labor force, buoyed by the Union.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Higher education is not only overpriced, it has created unrealistic expectations. Trade unions spend more money on issue advocacy than they do on apprentice training. Secondary schools no longer teach technical trades. This has been a long time coming. Good thing immigrants are filling all the vacancies left by retiring tradesmen, or society would have collapsed long ago. You don't know how rare it is today, to find a high school student that can change a simple wall switch.

It's pretty sad how the younger generations are afraid to get their hands dirty. Most of them really have no clue, by design, when it comes to any type of home/auto repair or other types of manual labor. I say "by design" because the parents have failed to instill this work ethic in their kids. Most kids today are handed everything with nothing expected in return.

[GandD 5,966]

You should hear what they tell soon to be college grads. I've got a BA in my field and have been in a related job for 8 years now. My buddy is about to graduate from the same university with a masters in the same field. They have him convinced he'll enter the field as a manager making ridiculous amounts of money. While a college degree is expected in some industries, experience, personal communication skills, and basic trouble shooting are really the most important skills one can have. Technical colleges can provide way more bang for the buck for people wanting to enter manufacturing or similar fields. University degrees have become more of a status symbol than proof someone knows how to do something.

Edited May 6, 2013 by GandD

[Póg mo 1,749]

Also labor unionists are killing big companies. They are no longer about doing what is right for the workers , but perpetuating the fat cats at the labor unions and their political agenda.

What Unions? Union membership is near an all time low, so I am not sure how they are, as the right would have us believe, are somehow distroying America.

[Póg mo 1,749]

Higher education is not only overpriced, it has created unrealistic expectations.

Of course, but this is exactly what happens when the private sector is allowed to run education for profit.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Of course, but this is exactly what happens when the private sector is allowed to run education for profit.

????? You haven't been here very long, have you.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What Unions? Union membership is near an all time low, so I am not sure how they are, as the right would have us believe, are somehow distroying America.

Please, no facts.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Higher education is not only overpriced, it has created unrealistic expectations. Trade unions spend more money on issue advocacy than they do on apprentice training. Secondary schools no longer teach technical trades. This has been a long time coming. Good thing immigrants are filling all the vacancies left by retiring tradesmen, or society would have collapsed long ago. You don't know how rare it is today, to find a high school student that can change a simple wall switch.

I think everyone should find what they are good at. I beeged to go to A and P school, my folks would hear none of it, sent me off to college.I was your classic under achiever., Iwould make an A+ in Zoology 411 then flunk Pschy 101. I found myself in the discipline of the Infantry. What I learned there made rising thru the ranks in the civilian world easy.

Started out at the bottom in 2 different organizations with no degree and was running them inside of 3 years. Now at 51 I am bored and retired. I want to go somewhere and work where good customer service is important. Such a rare concept in today's times.