Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan organization advocating for Millennials ages 18-29, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for January 2013. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:
- The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for January 2013 is 13.1 percent (NSA).
- The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for January 2013 is 22.1 percent (NSA); the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for January 2013 is 13.0 percent (NSA); and the youth unemployment rate for 18–29 year old women for January 2013 is 11.6 percent (NSA).
- The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
- If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to 16.2 percent (NSA).
“President Obama says America should be ‘investing in the generation that will build its future,’ yet four years of his government-driven economic policies have left us with record youth unemployment and an economy that is literally shrinking. My generation is suffering disproportionately,” said Terence Grado, Director of National and State Policy at Generation Opportunity. “Instead of staying the course and doubling down on failure, we need a new strategy that encourages the private sector to grow, invest, and provide real opportunities for the millions of young people who have great skills, are ready to contribute, and have waited long enough.”
Generation Opportunity is asking young people to take action by sharing their personal stories on its flagship Facebook page, Being American by GO. This effort, called Tell Us About It, will reveal the real faces behind the statistics, giving young people a forum to dialogue about the impact of historically high youth unemployment in everyday life.
GO TO THE LINK BELOW TO SEE THEIR STORIES:
And follow us on Twitter: @GenOpportunity
David makes some very good points. However, I tend to disagree with his statement “Well Meaning, but completely wrong-headed politicians…” I would just leave out the “Well meaning” part and add “Ignorant, self-righteous”. I am not much for being politically correct or soft on word usage.
I used to get upset when I heard reports about companies like Nike having third world sweat shops – paying their workers $1/day [as an example to stress my point as I am not sure what they were actually paid]. Then I discovered that the small wage they were being paid was a very good wage for them in their environment.
If I was young again and had the choice of living at home and having my parents pay my expenses or working for $4-6 per hour, I would take the work. Many would also jump at the chance to be on their own, some wouldn’t. That is how people are.
Now that our new health care system is going into effect, employers don’t want full-time employees because of the cost of benefits. I am sure they would hire more people if their cost were less.
$4 an hour for 40 hours per week is only just over $8,300 a year and no one in the USA can live on that. But get 3 other roommates and live a simple lifestyle, it is very doable. The problem is we have been entrained to want more and more, to have the latest and newest gadget. If only we could take a different perspective, our lives would be much different.
One of the unfortunate results of a slow growth economy is youth unemployment. And unfortunately, it is made worse by minimum wage laws. In a slow economy adult workers often take positions previously filled by teenagers. Before minimum wage laws came into effect, a young person could simply walk down the street and pop their head in the door at business after business and ask “Can you use some extra help?”. It didn’t take long before a kind shop keeper would take a chance on a persistent kid and offer them their first job. If they worked out they would often get a raise. Today there are countless young people who’ve rarely or never held a job and know next to nothing about developing good work and money handling habits… being punctual, being polite and respectful, developing a good work ethic, managing and saving money. Some proposals have been made to allow teenagers to work in low-skilled, safe janitorial or kitchen positions in high schools at slightly less than minimum wage to teach them these habits. Well meaning, but completely wrong-headed politicians have decried this as “child exploitation”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Young people need to develop good work habits. A change in the minimum wage laws to encourage teen employment would be a fantastic thing for our country.