Oh, to be 20 and young again ... NOT!
[VV note: In the following essay Robert Samuelson, a conservative thinker, lists two reasons why he is concerned for the future of his 20-something children. TM and I both have 20-something children, and we too are concerned, but for more reasons than just two. Many of these are covered in the recent book by Jorgen Randers entitled "2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years." These include the effects of unsustainable population growth on a finite planet, the false premise of the current economic growth-based model and, perhaps most dangerous of all, the potential catastrophic changes let loose by anthropogenic climate change.
As we observe the absurdity and relentless inanity of yet another U.S. presidential election season, totally lost — not even slightly mentioned — are the real challenges that a future president and country must face. Ultimately any significant action will only result, as it has inevitably in the past in Europe and the U.S. and is currently doing in the Middle East, from a cataclysmic, life-changing upheaval. — LP]
The social and economic reasons for Generation Squeezed
By Robert J. Samuelson, WashPost, Published: August 5
I worry about the future — not mine but that of my three children, all in their 20s. It is an axiom of American folklore that every generation should live better than its predecessors. But this is not a constitutional right or even an entitlement, and I am skeptical that today’s young will do so. Nor am I alone. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds that nearly 60 percent of Americans are also doubters. I meet many parents who fear the future that awaits their children.
The young (and I draw the line at 40 and under) face two threats to their living standards. The first is the adverse effect of the Great Recession on jobs and wages. Even if this fades with time, there’s the second threat: the costs of an aging America. It’s not just Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — huge transfers from the young to the old — but also deferred maintenance on roads, bridges, water systems and power grids. Newsweek calls the young “generation screwed”; I prefer the milder “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. From 2007 to 2011, “real” (inflation-adjusted) wages fell nearly 5 percent for recent college graduates and 10 percent for recent high-school graduates, says EPI. Among college grads, only four in 10 said their jobs required a four-year degree, reports a survey by the John J. Heldrich Center at Rutgers University. If the economy doesn’t fully recover, slack labor demand will continue to depress employment and wages for years.
(More here.)
As we observe the absurdity and relentless inanity of yet another U.S. presidential election season, totally lost — not even slightly mentioned — are the real challenges that a future president and country must face. Ultimately any significant action will only result, as it has inevitably in the past in Europe and the U.S. and is currently doing in the Middle East, from a cataclysmic, life-changing upheaval. — LP]
The social and economic reasons for Generation Squeezed
By Robert J. Samuelson, WashPost, Published: August 5
I worry about the future — not mine but that of my three children, all in their 20s. It is an axiom of American folklore that every generation should live better than its predecessors. But this is not a constitutional right or even an entitlement, and I am skeptical that today’s young will do so. Nor am I alone. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll finds that nearly 60 percent of Americans are also doubters. I meet many parents who fear the future that awaits their children.
The young (and I draw the line at 40 and under) face two threats to their living standards. The first is the adverse effect of the Great Recession on jobs and wages. Even if this fades with time, there’s the second threat: the costs of an aging America. It’s not just Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — huge transfers from the young to the old — but also deferred maintenance on roads, bridges, water systems and power grids. Newsweek calls the young “generation screwed”; I prefer the milder “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. From 2007 to 2011, “real” (inflation-adjusted) wages fell nearly 5 percent for recent college graduates and 10 percent for recent high-school graduates, says EPI. Among college grads, only four in 10 said their jobs required a four-year degree, reports a survey by the John J. Heldrich Center at Rutgers University. If the economy doesn’t fully recover, slack labor demand will continue to depress employment and wages for years.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home