It sounds cliche, but parents still claim that they had it much worse than kids today. The old adage of walking to school, barefoot, in sub-zero degree weather. They didn't have computers to help them with research and they even left the house without a cell phone. New inventions have helped many young students be better connected, but what about the idea that kids are better off - economically - than their parents? With a struggling economy constantly making headlines around the world, is the younger generation actually in more trouble than their parents when it comes to finding that dream job?
According to the Wall Street Journal, yes! Economic times have taken their toll on everyone. However, they have taken an even bigger toll on young-adults aged 18-24. It is more difficult to find a job and some 20-somethings actually find themselves living in their parents' basements working a job that is under their skill level.
While baby-boomers did have a few rough patches, according to Ben Cassleman, the 18-24 year olds of today are facing an economy that isn't bouncing back as quickly. And, jobs are a little harder to come by. According to the article,
...young people are facing far higher levels of unemployment and under-employment. The official jobless rate for 18-24 year olds is more than double that for those between 35 and 54, and the rate of underemployment is even higher. By some estimates, more than half of all college grads under age 25 are either looking for work or stuck in jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree.Many recent college graduates are struggling to find work. And, unfortunately, it is difficult to recover from the recent set-backs for the younger generation.
Many of today’s 20-somethings, therefore, are stuck on the sidelines for what should be — and what was for their parents — their most important years for wage growth and career development. The effects are likely to be long-lasting. A study by Yale economist Lisa Kahn found that “the labor market consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy are large, negative and persistent.”It's hard to say what will happen over the next few years. Regardless, over the next few years, you might be seeing a few more students living in their parents' basements after college.
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ReplyDeleteMy parents have always told me that when they were my age they had it a lot worse than me, and yes I agree. While technology distracts us from doing our work and makes us counter-productive at the same time it allows us to finish projects and study for tests faster. We are able to find jobs and establish connection faster and easier with all of the technology of today which is why i think that technology has a positive effect on our generation.
ReplyDeleteYes kids have it worse today. Kids today have to deal with our majorly in dept economy and our loss of job opportunists. Back in the day when our parents were kids grades didn't really matter in order to succeed and you didn't really have to go to college in order so succeed in life. For us its different though, for us we need good grades in order to make it to college and you need to have at least some sort of degree in college just to keep a job that's only paying you between 40 and 50 thousand a year which in today's world isn't a whole lot. So yes kids have it harder today than our parents did.
ReplyDeleteKids do have it worse coming into the job market for two reasons. One there are more students now, therefore more competition for jobs.Two is the fact that students are coming into a slow recovering economy, so there is less jobs.
ReplyDeleteSo for the students who do not get jobs have less experience, resulting in a more experienced person being hired at their desired position. This will most likely make them take a lower position, or wait even longer. With the increase in most prices also their quality of living will go down if they do not get their job. Entrepreneurs coming out of school will also have the problem of increased costs resulting in less resources, or less profit.
DeleteClearly the parents are incorrect if you refer to the data provided. On the chart, people who were born from 1988 and on have a higher unemployment rate than those who were born in 1964. Not only is the unemployment rate higher for 1988 born people than 1964 people, but if you were to get a job it would not be a good, long lasting, beneficial one by any stretch of the imagination. Also like the document states, most 18-24 year old kids nowadays are "Living in their parents' basements working a job that is under their skill level." This clearly proves that kids born from the year 1988 and later are in a worse position for the previously stated facts.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it seems that the current 18-24 year olds have is worse off than the baby boom generation, I am not sure that the trend will continue down through us. Th document says that the unemployment and under employment can be contributed to an economy that hasn't bounced back yet, but by the time that we are through college, the economy will have most likely gotten somewhat better, giving us more of a chance to find a job that we want. That being said, if the economy doesn't bounce back enough, it is true that we will have it worse off than our parents in terms of finding the job we want out of college.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this passage. Our generation (ages 18-24) is facing rough times. I am quite skeptical on how it will turn out within the next few years. But due to the lack of skills we have picked up due to technology, our parents had it easier I believe. So in conclusion, I believe from here on, the unemployment rate will only increase for the next few years.
ReplyDeleteI find this article to be very interesting and the graph is not very promising for me going off to college in the next year. Also it is very crazy how our parents think that they have it real nice when it is just human nature that the next generation will have it better. Product and services wise especially because we as people are getting smarter as technology advances. When our parents were kids they walked everywhere, we as kids biked everywhere, and our kids will probably teleport everywhere. It is just how the world works unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the children of our generation have it worse today than their parents, especially looking at the economy. Although our generation has grown up with advanced technology and resources, unlike our parents, the struggle of finding a job out of college is much higher than it was for our parents. The, "official jobless rate for 18-24 year olds is more than double that for those between 35 and 54, and the rate of underemployment is even higher. By some estimates, more than half of all college grads under age 25 are either looking for work or stuck in jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree." The struggles faced by the younger generation are much more negative than that of our parent's.
ReplyDeletePart of the reason the unemployment rate has grown over the ages of 18-24 years is because the competition has increased. With more resources, people can develop themselves further educationally. If someone does not take the initiative to gain a college education and excel at things that set them apart, they are left unemployed or working at McDonalds. The phrase "survival of the fittest" regulates who can earn higher paying careers. A college education is a necessity now a days when back in the 1980’s, it wasn’t as crucial.
ReplyDeleteThe kids of our generation have it worse than their parents for sure. As show in the cart you can see that the unemployment rates for 18-24 year olds of this generation is significantly higher than that of the generations before us. This is due to a bad economy, increased competition for jobs, and an increase in technology. These three things are the major contributors to the high unemployment rates for young adults. With a bad economy more and more people are being fired every day which in-turn puts more people in the job market and increases competition. Also the increase in technology has forced some companies to fire employees because a robot can do the job more efficiently.
ReplyDeleteBased on the technology that is available for usage by younger consumers, a pressure for a deeper understanding on concepts has been present. Adults and baby boomers - before this advance technology was created – believe younger generations have it easier quoting that “They didn't have computers to help them with research.” Although it may be true that the computer was not as well equipped when our parents were in high school – due to the vast amounts of knowledge students are expected to learn - set unrealistic goals to achieve in efforts of a ‘dream job’.
ReplyDeleteJoey Honrath
ReplyDeleteI agree that children in today's day and age have it worse. So technology has been increased, and electronics are more available, the economy is suffering. Plus prices on virtually all goods are raising exponentially. State college now costs about 4-6 thousand a semester, or 16-24 thousand just for tuition for a 4-yr undergrad--this not necessarily including meals, room and board, and text-books. The job market also stays shut to younger Americans, "The official jobless rate for 18-24 year olds is more than double that for those between 35 and 54, and the rate of underemployment is even higher." Also suggesting that when teens can find jobs, they still will not have the ability to pay off endless college debt and student loans.
While I'm glad to hear that that old (and annoying) cliché of "sub-zero degree weather" will no longer apply, the prospect of being unable to find descent employment after college is quite depressing. In today's society, everyone assumes that a college degree will gain you immediate - and good - employment, despite the fact that a degree doesn't automatically hand you a job. Because of this assumption, teenagers and young adults tend to grow up believing that a successful life is only a few years away, and it's a bit off-putting to find out that we may need to work harder than we had previously anticipated. I hope that I am able to be the exception instead of the rule, but if I do end up living in my parent's basement, at least I'll have Ben Cassleman, Yale, and other professional economists to back me up.
ReplyDeleteI think that the kids of our generation have it harder than our parents generation because it's harder for the kids of our generation to find and maintain a stead job. According to the article, "the official jobless rate for 18-24 year olds is more than double that of 35-54". However, by the time that our generation gets out of college, there will be more job opportunities from our parents generation. I think that the unemployment rate will go down because more job opportunities will open up.
ReplyDeleteYes I think our generation has it harder than our parents. When our parents were in school, college was kind of an optional thing and now day if you don't go to college you wont get a good job so college is mandatory.Also, now days everything is way more expensive than when our parents were kids but people do make more money now too. Kids now days I think have a lot more stress. Sports are taken way more seriously than before and so is school. Many sports teams practice everyday and start practicing many months before the season starts.School is way more competitive now because people need to smarter than their peers to get into a better college and get the best job possible which also adds stress to our lives.
ReplyDeleteI think we have it better today because the technology we have allows us access to basically the whole world. The ways we have it worse, is of course, that it is becoming increasingly difficult for 18-24 year olds to get jobs. Everything is also more expensive than it was when our parents were younger which makes it more difficult to get into good colleges. The college you get into impacts your chances at getting a good job after college and so on. Hopefully the economy will bounce back by the time that we are all getting out of college so that we do not add to the percentage of unemployed college graduates.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that our parents had it harder, with strict parents and no technology, but economically, they had it great. We may have it easy with techonology, but economically, it scares me that I may be living in my parents house at age 24 and I mihgt not be persuing my career. It's not fair that millions of us will be spending tons of time and money on an education that might not get us anywhere. That's why it's important to go into a career that's always in high demand, becuse you are almost guaranteed a job in that field. This might prevent some people from pursuing the job of their dreams, because they'd rather make good money rather than have the degree they want, but not do anything with it.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Karaffa
I believe that when parents say they have it worse than us, they are talking about small things like transportation and petty things like that. But what really is an issue is the economic troubles that the young adults of today go through. no longer can you just graduate high school with mediocre grades and make a name for yourself. no longer can you have below average grades and get into the college that you want, no. The competition for economic success if harder than ever. The average GPA for a student admitted to UW Madison is monumentally lower than the average student today. furthermore. Once you get through the rigorous test of getting into college, you then face an even harder challenge of finding a job that utilizes your skills and pays what you deserve. So in a sense, yes our parents did have it tough, but when it boils down to the big picture, they had a cakewalk compared to use when it concerns you economic status and well being.
ReplyDelete-Cal Stempel
My parents always tell me how much different times where when they were kids. They didn't have computers, or cell phones. There was no such thing as iPods, or HDTV's... etc.
ReplyDeleteBut I too, agree with this article. We have it worse now becuase of how hard it is to find a job, and how competitive jobs, and colleges are now a days. Back when my parents went to school, no where near as many people went to college, making it much easier to get accepted into school, and much easier to find a job post college.
Now, not only is it more competitive to find a job, but the economy is suffereing, and people/business do not have enough money to hire more and more qualified employees. Leaving qualified people without jobs.
I agree that our parents had it harder when they were younger than we do. Technology is so much more useful when doing everyday jobs, even doing this assignment is using a computer. Our parents had no graphing calculators in math, no cell phones to check their grades or assignments, and no laptops to take notes on. But on the other hand their technology wasn't struggling as bad as ours is right now, and while their unemployment rates decreased as they grew older, our generation's seem to be increasing, making it even harder to find jobs once we graduate from college. The other negative about our technology is how distracting it can be, when at home and during school. It's so easy for me to procrastinate when there are thousands of TV channels to view or a phone that has games on it, while in our parent's age they eventually ran out of ideas to distract them. They were almost forced to do their school work because there wasn't much else to do. Overall our parents had it a lot tougher with their lack of technology, but hopefully our unemployment rates start to decrease as well, otherwise we may be in some trouble heading into the future. - Jeremy Koehler
ReplyDeleteI think that we have it as equally as hard as the previous generations we just have it in a different way. Back then the elderly now didn't have the technology or all the simple things that we now take for granted but the prices back then were so much more easier to live with while now in our generation it's the opposite where we have the technology but that's no good when prices for most things are at an high. Back then the older generations had it easier because if they weren't good at school or had no interest there were other things that they could do like work at a mill and live comfortably while now those mills and jobs aren't around anymore so now being the newer generation we have to look for education to guide our way to live "comfortably" and even then once you graduate and get all the degrees you've received it's still not guaranteed that you will be handed a job there's plenty of people with degrees from all different kinds of ranges that work at fast food restaurants or even live at home without a job wondering how they're going to pay off their loans. In the end I think that our generation has it harder simply for the fact that we have to face something that the previous didn't and that's the problem of trying to find a stable job while supporting yourself or your family.
ReplyDeleteI raise no argument as to whether who had it harder, simply because I haven't lived in both time periods to find out. We have things more readily available to us, but with that advantage comes the enhanced expectations of how to use it. Granted, we didn't have to walk to school uphill both ways, but we have a lot to do in school and more rigorous material to cover. This graph proves that both generations have their advantages and their drawbacks, and my generation has a huge drawback. A 15% unemployment rate is staggering, but not really surprising. Unfortunately, kids these days are a lot lazier and expect to get things handed to them without working for it. Even though the percentages are not in our favor, I still believe that a degree is the best way to go.
ReplyDeleteI think the graph depicts clearly that young adults today have it worse than their parents. Just because we have more technology and things are easier to us, it doesn't make it any better. It actually makes it worse because there are a lot more people competing for jobs and technology gives everyone an advantage which makes finding a job highly competitive. With all of these people competing for jobs right out of college naturally some people aren't going to get hired. While back in the old days it was automatic that you would get a job that is not true anymore. The requirements and standards for getting a job today are much more rigorous and some people that did not get the job they were expecting are going to be in heavy debt that is going to be very difficult for them to pay off while working over-qualified at a lesser paying job.
ReplyDeleteJamison Cook
I believe that our parents had it much easier than we do today. My dad always tells me that when he was in high school there was no pressure to get good grades or a high school job. These days with the economy we are pressed into both. In order to get a good paying job, we must get into a good college. And in order to get into a good college we must get good grades. When my father graduated it was much easier to get a high-paying job because they was no need for post high school education (unless you were going to be a doctor, lawyer, ect).
ReplyDeleteI believe that children have it harder than their parents, economically. Our parents graduated high school and it was pretty much optional to go to college. If you didn't go to college you still had a decent chance at finding a job that would pay decent money. In today's world, if you do not go to college you have a great chance of having a rough time trying to find a job. Even people that get the degree are struggling to find jobs. As the article states,"...young people are facing far higher levels of unemployment and under-employment." This displays how children have it harder than their parents.
ReplyDeleteAlthough parents lived in conditions with limited technology advancements, I think we have it worse now-a-days. Technology is nice for research, but seems to do nothing but diminish our communication skills. There was a 12% unemployment rate at age 22 for kids born in 1964. Kids born in 1988 have an 18% unemployment rate at age 22, which is supposed to be the prime years for working after college and making your mark in the world on your own. Going to college should be a reward, not a punishment.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the article, many kids complain about how rough they have it just like our parents, but our parents beg to differ. Like Ms. Jecha said our parents complained that they didn’t have cell phones or computers for connecting with their teachers or friends for help on homework assignments, they had to walk and had to work harder than us when they were are age, I can agree with the work they had to do was harder, but when you look at all the statistics on the lowering employed rate is going down and the unemployment rate is going up, which means the chances of it going up by the time we graduate high school and college it will be hard for us to get a job, therefore it will be harder for us than it was our parents. (Tyler Kempf)
ReplyDeleteJoan Starich
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy that these once laughed upon cliches are now becoming a devastating reality. It seems as though technological improvements are the solutions to many problems, there also lurks an underlying consequence. As children of the 21st century, we're constantly wired and hooked on a screen. Twitter, texting, and television all become part of a daily routine that replaces activities that would further our skills and abilities. It will be hard to find a husband who can fix a car now days! Before, men knew more about handywork than they do now. Imparting knowledge into children at a young age is beneficial because by giving them education and skills is the best way to ensure them a successful future. By cutting out the dependency on technology, our children will have a brighter education and a more useful set of skills. Maybe in the future I will be saying "I had it worse than you as a child!" to my son or daughter, and actually mean it.
Everything given in the passage makes perfect sense. With 18-24 year olds they are running through hard times as they are in mid jump from kid to adult. When all they see on tv and in the papers is about how the economic health of the country is spiraling downward by the day it is demoralizing for them. Comparing this with how it was for people born prior to 1984, many of which had bright hopes for their futures to how today’s are where it seems as if tomorrow may never come at times it not only batters kids and young adults these days financially but also emotionally. Sadly there is a good chance that it will get worse before it gets better, but for the ‘kids these days’ it will be pivotal to see exactly how this situation unfolds.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree that our parents did have it harder. Economically, on the other hand, I feel as if the tables are turned. Technology may be a big factor contributing to our success in school and higher education, but when it comes to matters of finding a job, technology is really not a factor at all. I feel as if it is highly unfair that we have to spend all of this time and effort (less than what our parents had to) and still struggle to get a high paying job due to our poor economy. Unfortunately people are forced to make sacrifices due to this. Sacrifices as not pursuing the job that they intended to due to poor payment and school fees. Many people are forced to settle for a job that they don't even like just to get money now a days.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Koski
It is clear that when our parents were coming out of high school their probability of getting a job were much higher through the information on the graph. For 18-24 year olds the jobless rate is more than double of those between 34-54 years old. If the economy continues to act like it has in recent years more and more college graduates are going to be stuck in the dependence of their parents, because jobs will be hard to come by. When the older generation was coming out of college they didn’t have to worry about going back home and living with their parents until they were able to get back on their feet because the chance of them getting a job were much greater. Due to the vast number of college graduates living with their parents and looking for jobs the baby boomer and older generations had it much better coming out of college from an economic perspective.
ReplyDeleteWe have it worse than our parents did when they were younger.Even though they did not have the technology advances that kids now a days have, they still lived in a good economy. As a teenager living in a recession it often makes me wonder how I am going to find a job when I graduate high school and college. My parents did not have to worry about that as much.
ReplyDeleteI believe that today is adolescents, we have it better off when it comes to technology. We have computers, tablets, cell phones with internet, and everything we could possibly need at our fingertips. When our parents were our age, they had to go to the library to check out an encyclopedia, and if someone had the letter encyclopedia that you needed, you would have to wait until the encyclopedia that you wanted was available. People who are between the ages of 18 and 24 are usually the ones who are fresh out of college, and have people wanting to hire them because they figure they know all the new technologies and would be a good help to their business. This statistic has been changing recently however. Recently, the people form ages eighteen through twenty-four, have not been able to find jobs. I think that when it comes to the economy and getting jobs that kids do have it worse today then how our parents had it because of our continuing failing economy. The economy that our parents was in was bad but it was slowly going up. Ours economy is slowly going down however.
ReplyDelete-Karissa Sime