Hard Luck Young People

This is not an easy time to be a young adult in the United States.  While the Great Recession ended in mid 2009, the economy has not grown fast enough since then to generate jobs, particularly good jobs, for all the people who want to work. 

A Marist Poll in summer 2011 found a troubling reversal of traditional American optimism about future generations' prospects.  Sixty-one percent of adults said they believed the generations to come would be worse off financially; a scant 16 percent believed things would be better.

In February of this year, a McClatchey-Marist Poll found continued pessimism.  Seventy-eight percent of respondents said it was going to be more difficult to get ahead in the future.  Sixty-eight percent said people who worked hard today were having a difficult time maintaining their standard of living.

Recently, the Economic Policy Institute, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have released statistics that quantify the situation of young adults. 

Here it is, by the numbers: 

Employment

     -- In May, the unemployment rate for workers under 25 was 14.5 percent.  If the million "missing" workers (not working, not in school) were added to the figure, the unemployment rate would be 18.1 percent.  In 2007, before the Great Recession, the rate was 10.5 percent. 

     -- Among young college graduates, 18.5 percent were unemployed, and of those with jobs, 16.8 percent were underemployed, or working at jobs that did not require a college degree.

     -- The situation was worse for high school graduates; 22.9 percent of them were unemployed, and 41.5 percent of those with jobs were considered underemployed.

     -- The percentage of high school graduates who were not enrolled in postsecondary school or working in jobs was 17.7 percent this spring, up from 13.7 percent in 2007.

     -- Between 2000 and 2014, real hourly wages dropped 10 percent for young workers with high school diplomas.  For those with college degrees, the drop in real wages was 7.7 percent.

School Costs

     -- State appropriations for public colleges and universities dropped 27.7 percent between 2008 and 2013.  Public universities enroll approximately 70 percent of all post-secondary students.

     -- Between 2004 and 2012, the number of students borrowing money for college increased by 70 percent.  The average debt per student also increased by 70 percent.

     -- The amount of money owed for college loans increased from $250 billion in 2003 to more than $1 trillion in 2013.

     -- More than 30 percent of federal education loans at that time were delinquent, i.e., more than 30 days behind in payments.  More than one in eight loans were in default, or nine months behind.  More than 20 percent were a year or more behind.

The Up Side

While young Americans have good reasons to worry about their futures, things could be much worse. -- they could live in the south of Europe.

More about that tomorrow.