Global Economy Bursting?

[Terrel L. Shields]

our education system has completely and totally failed them. In addition, ... leaves scores of college graduates absolutely drowning in debt.

That debt is extremely difficult to overcome and the spread between degree and no degree is very small.... The working HS grad, in fact, at age 25 is far ahead of his degreed peers who cannot find a job...and if you fail to find a job soon after leaving college, then the longer afterwards, the more likely it will be a job outside your field and well below your skill and training level. In other words, a degree becomes a crap shoot and if you lose, you are worse off for the rest of your life than if you simply skipped school.

And if we have a 20 plus year depression like the Japanese, submissives that they are, why do we think there won't be the kind of explosive anger we see in Greece, Iran, Egypt, and Libya where educated and under-employed workers spill into the streets and bring down entire governments. Unemployment among Greek youth is running 25% and the minimum wage is to be reduced to 200 a week.

 

[nm505]

Since there are considerations to raise the age needed to qualify for Medicare, what if we decided to lower the age instead.. to say 50. Medicare was established to care for older people that have a greater percentage of health problems that insurance companies found tempting to drop. Including younger people with fewer health problems might help with the costs.

Would it be possible that many oldsters would consider retiring if they had Medicare? Many many are hanging on to jobs in order to keep their health insurance benefits. Would the earlier retirements then help clear the way for job openings that could be filled by the youngsters? Would that then help social security as there would be many more young people paying into the system with good paying jobs?

This is not my idea but I do believe there is some wisdom here...radical as it is. I can count dozens of my older friends and relatives that keep working simply due to health benefits that they can not afford to lose (even though they they have their retirement plans well funded unless they are hit with a catastrophic illness that would wipe them out). If you apply for an individual policy, you can be rejected with no cause given... even if you are relatively healthy for your age. I know that from personal experience.

And that does not even count people with corporate jobs they hate (but with good insurance) that feel they can not go out on their own and start entrepreneurial businesses that would possibly create jobs for even more youngsters.

 

[Couch Potato]

I don't call 65% "very small."

That debt is extremely difficult to overcome and the spread between degree and no degree is very small.... The working HS grad, in fact, at age 25 is far ahead of his degreed peers who cannot find a job...and if you fail to find a job soon after leaving college, then the longer afterwards, the more likely it will be a job outside your field and well below your skill and training level. In other words, a degree becomes a crap shoot and if you lose, you are worse off for the rest of your life than if you simply skipped school.

And if we have a 20 plus year depression like the Japanese, submissives that they are, why do we think there won't be the kind of explosive anger we see in Greece, Iran, Egypt, and Libya where educated and under-employed workers spill into the streets and bring down entire governments. Unemployment among Greek youth is running 25% and the minimum wage is to be reduced to 200 a week.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Census data: Recession hits US young adults hard


According to 2010 census data released Thursday, 20- and 30-somethings in the United States are suffering from their demographic’s highest unemployment rate since World War II, and currently have a higher risk of living in poverty — nearly one in five – than Americans in other age groups.

An inability to secure employment leads to lifestyle changes for young people, according to the American Community Survey, which surveys nearly 3 million households annually.

Some young adults are moving in with Mom and Dad and delaying marriage. The age group in general is buying fewer homes. Many are raising children out of wedlock.

Nationwide, 55.3 percent of those age 16–29 were employed in 2010, down from 67.3 percent in 2000.

About 5.9 million out-of-work Americans age 25–34 shared housing with their parents last year instead of making the career-related long distance moves that are typical of college grads.

This means 25 percent more young adults are living at home than before the recession.

In 2010 only 4.4 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 moved across state lines. And just 2.4 percent of college graduates, some of the most likely Americans to relocate, made long-distance moves.

Adults over 18 who reported being married at some point during 2010 reached a record low of 51.4 percent, compared with 57 percent in 2000. Marriages in the 25–34 age group also hit a new low of 44.2 percent.

The AP reported that home ownership declined for the fourth consecutive year in America’s 75 most populated metropolitan areas, down to 65.4 percent, after a peak of 67.3 percent in 2006. This reflects the reality that young adults with free rent at home, no permanent partners and an incentive to save money in precarious economic times are less likely to purchase new homes.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

When 25% of grads do not find work in their field, it is hard to make the case there is a big gap... further, the pHD is generally getting paid less than a comparable MS. In many sciences and engineering, the MS is considered the "working" degree.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703822404575019082819966538.html

as tuition continues to skyrocket and many seeking to change careers are heading back to school, some researchers are questioning the methodology behind the high projections...They don't take into account deductions from income taxes or breaks in employment. Nor do they factor in debt, particularly student debt loads, which have ballooned for both public and private colleges in recent years. In addition, the income data used for the Census estimates is from 1999, when total expenses for tuition and fees at the average four-year private college were $15,518 per year. For the 2009-10 school year, that number has risen to $26,273, and it continues to increase at a rate higher than inflation. ...Dr. Schneider estimated the actual lifetime-earnings advantage for college graduates is a mere $279,893 in a report he wrote last year. He included tuition payments and discounted earning streams, putting them into present value. He also used actual salary data for graduates 10 years after they completed their degrees to measure incomes.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Recent statistics on earnings of young people

Notice males with a bachelor's degree in 2000 had a median income of $56,100 while the median income was $51,000 in 2009, a decline of 9.1%.

Notice males with a high school diploma in 2000 had a median income of $36,100 while the median income was $32,900 in 2009, a decline of 8.9%.

The income levels are falling in all categories.

The focus on earnings capacity and employment using dated data does not reflect today's reality of getting a college degree and a job or the cost of that degree.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Pretty sad picture of declining income.

 

[Restrain]

Gallup unemployment survey out today. Actual unemployment back up to 9% with underemployment up over 19%. Until jobs turn around, and not make-work govt jobs but actual job growth, we will not see a recovery.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The myth of college education and unemployment

If you have a college degree and you are employed and you are over 35, you have a much lower unemployment rate than those just coming out of college with a degree.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

'Mamma's Boy' Index

This awesome chart explains the eurozone crisis.

The chart depicts the correlation between 5-year CDS (a form of insurance to protect against a credit event) of eurozone countries and the percentage of men ages of 25 to 34 still living at home with their mom and dad.

What is missing is the U.S. from the chart.