The New ‘Lost Generation’: Young Workers

[marmar]

from In These Times:



The New ‘Lost Generation’: Young Workers

Friday
April 9
6:14 pm

By Art Levine


A devastating new report, "The Kids Aren't All Right," released by the Economic Policy Institute on Wednesday underscores the plight facing young workers—and how little is being done to address the long-term damage this recession has inflicted on a generation of workers.

The official unemployment rate for young workers ages 16 to 24—who make up over a quarter of all the unemployed—peaked, officially, at 19.2% in September and is still hovering near 19%. That's roughly twice the unemployment rate for all workers. And those figures don't count those who've given up or who are under-employed.

Indeed, as AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler pointed out at a forum this week on labor (via the AFL-CIO Now blog), "Young people are disenfranchised. They graduate and they have no jobs, let alone jobs with benefits."

The numbers are even grimmer for young minority workers. As EPI noted: "The disparities between the unemployment rates of white, black, and Hispanic young workers are also stark. Black 16-24 year-old workers had the highest rate, starting 2010 at 32.5%, followed by Hispanics (24.2%), and then whites (15.2%)." The numbers are darker for teenagers (16 to 19) who aren't enrolled full-time in school:

Teenagers as a whole attained the highest unemployment rate on record (since 1948), peaking in October 2009 at 27.6%, and within that, record highs for whites (25.1%) and Hispanics (37.2%). In fact, the only group that did not experience record highs was black teenage workers, but with a peak unemployment rate of 49.8%, this is hardly an accomplishment.

..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5815/the_new_lost_generation_young_workers/

[DesertFlower]

1. my niece just finished her dental hygienist

training. i'm worried that she won't be able to find a job. my hygienist says she's going to be competing with experienced hygienists who's hours have been cut.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Lotta people putting off going to the dentist these days.

It's a luxury they can't afford.

[DesertFlower]

4. my dentist is only open 3 days a week now.

[Hello_Kitty]

5. I haven't seen one in 3 years.

I floss like a mofo and so far, knock on wood, haven't had any problems.

[RagAss]

6. The Water Pik has kept me going for years.

[DesertFlower]

10. i used one for years until about

2 years ago. my oral surgeon said it's bad when you have implants. i have 10.

[DesertFlower]

7. you're lucky. i have a Mercedes in my mouth.

my mom didn't have money to send me to the dentist when i was young. now i have 10 implants and almost every natural tooth has had a root canal and a crown on it.

[Hello_Kitty]

8. I'm lucky as hell. Never saw a dentist until I joined the Navy.

I've had one cavity in my whole life (which ended up as a root canal and crown later) but other than that my teeth have been kind to me. But a while back a dentist I was seeing informed me that no matter how good my teeth are, if my gums go I'm losing the teeth. Been flossing ever since.

[DesertFlower]

9. you are lucky. and the dentist is right.

[Greyhound]

3. What is this, the third in a row?

Anybody else noticing the downward trend?
:kick: & R

[Joe the Liberal]

11. k&r n/t