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US youths struggle to look for jobs
Source: Agencies |
February 10, 2012, Friday
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SQUEEZED by a tight job market, young Americans are especially struggling. They have suffered bigger income losses than other age groups and are less likely to be employed than at any time since just after World War II.
An analysis by the Pew Research Center, released yesterday, details the impact of the recent recession on a generation of mostly 20- and 30-somethings.
With government data showing record gaps in employment between young and old, a Pew survey found that 41 percent of Americans believe that younger adults have been hit harder than any other group, compared with 29 percent who say middle-aged Americans and 24 percent who point to seniors 65 and older. A wide majority of the public - at least 69 percent - also said it's more difficult for today's young adults than their parents' generation to pay for college, find a job, buy a home or save for the future.
"Young workers are on the bottom of the ladder, and during a recession like we've had, it's often hard for them to hold on," said Kim Parker, associate director of Pew's Social & Demographic Trends project. She noted that some have been heavily involved in the nationwide Occupy protests over economic disparity.
"They have a long way to climb back, and a lot of displaced workers to compete with," she said.
Still, Parker noted that despite the challenges, young adults were upbeat about the future: only 9 percent said they didn't think they would ever have enough money to live the life they want, a share unchanged from before the recession. In contrast, 28 percent of adults 35 and older didn't anticipate making enough in the future.
The latest numbers offered a mixed picture for young adults, many of them minorities, whose strong turnout and 2-1 support for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 buoyed him to election.
As voters this year point to the economy as their top concern, a slew of recent census data have underscored the difficulties of young adults: in record numbers, they are shunning long-distance moves in the economic downturn to live with mom and dad, delaying marriage and raising kids out of wedlock, if they're becoming parents at all.
An analysis by the Pew Research Center, released yesterday, details the impact of the recent recession on a generation of mostly 20- and 30-somethings.
With government data showing record gaps in employment between young and old, a Pew survey found that 41 percent of Americans believe that younger adults have been hit harder than any other group, compared with 29 percent who say middle-aged Americans and 24 percent who point to seniors 65 and older. A wide majority of the public - at least 69 percent - also said it's more difficult for today's young adults than their parents' generation to pay for college, find a job, buy a home or save for the future.
"Young workers are on the bottom of the ladder, and during a recession like we've had, it's often hard for them to hold on," said Kim Parker, associate director of Pew's Social & Demographic Trends project. She noted that some have been heavily involved in the nationwide Occupy protests over economic disparity.
"They have a long way to climb back, and a lot of displaced workers to compete with," she said.
Still, Parker noted that despite the challenges, young adults were upbeat about the future: only 9 percent said they didn't think they would ever have enough money to live the life they want, a share unchanged from before the recession. In contrast, 28 percent of adults 35 and older didn't anticipate making enough in the future.
The latest numbers offered a mixed picture for young adults, many of them minorities, whose strong turnout and 2-1 support for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 buoyed him to election.
As voters this year point to the economy as their top concern, a slew of recent census data have underscored the difficulties of young adults: in record numbers, they are shunning long-distance moves in the economic downturn to live with mom and dad, delaying marriage and raising kids out of wedlock, if they're becoming parents at all.
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