The Dead End Kids ["unemployment Rate For Young Americans Has Exploded To 52.2 PerCent]

NYPost ^ | September 27, 2009

[Steelfish]

The Dead End Kids Young, unemployed and facing tough future

By RICHARD WILNER September 27, 2009

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. -- meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.

And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults -- aged 16 to 24, excluding students -- getting a job and moving out of their parents' houses are long. Young workers have been among the hardest hit during the current recession -- in which a total of 9.5 million jobs have been lost.

"It's an extremely dire situation in the short run," said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. "This group won't do as well as their parents unless the jobs situation changes."

Al Angrisani, the former assistant Labor Department secretary under President Reagan, doesn't see a turnaround in the jobs picture for entry-level workers and places the blame squarely on the Obama administration and the construction of its stimulus bill.

[GOPJ]

The “young” can thank Obama for the lack of jobs ...

[dr_who]

DuplicatepostDuplicatepostDuplicatepost!!!!! :-)

[swatbuznik]

Of course, you can already see the results of this (at least in this area): kids with no job, they get bored, they get “adventurous” and create mayhem and begin to steal and vandalize.

Thanks, Obama. I blame you. I really do.

[Steelfish]

The Obamots will vote for him again.

[lmarie373]

As a young unemployed American I want to say this to odumbo :

"THANK YOU" *roll eyes*

[dr_who]

That’d be a great name for a FreeRepublic blog site, you know!

[ExTexasRedhead]

DemoRAT hope and change at its finest. The American people will be in an even bigger rage and by the millions upon millions very soon. We The People Are Coming in droves to the polls.

[lionheart 247365]

zer0 wants them to do community service and this is his way of getting them there .

[counterpunch]

Will Vote for Change
 

[Batrachian]

Considering the way that a lot of today's youth look, think, and act, it's not too surprising that they're unemployed and likely to stay that way.

It's just as much a social as economic problem. Let's face facts, Generation Y is no prize.

[pnh102]

Stupid kids. Next time think before you vote.

[Mikey_1962]

Lets follow the logic:

Congress raises the minimum wage, making employment of the young more costly ; Unemployment of the young increases.

The Law of Unintended Consequences and Adam Smith's Invisible Hand all in one.

[DogBarkTree]

Times are tough but what percentage of these young people dont have to work because they sponge off mom and dad?

[LostInBayport]

Ha! I’d say she already “voted for change” in November 2008, and that is why she’s sitting on the street begging for it.

I wonder how many of these “kids” will connect their plight with Obama and the democrat Congress, or will simply follow the media’s fingers, which point to capitalism and lack of complete government control as the culprits?

[Grut]

The “young” can thank Obama for the lack of jobs ...

Well, to be fair, the commercial sector threw itself into the 'prosperity bubble' with nary a qualm about anything except "gettin' while the gettin's good." Obama may be making things worse but the self-sabotaged economy was already there.

[dr_who]

They were saying the same stuff about Generation X. I can think of a quite a number of admirable examples of Y. But yes, I am concerned about them. The younger you are, the more you’re getting the shaft in the long run. But they don’t need pity, they need positive reinforcement even if it doesn’t appear that way to them initially.

[jimfree]

One of the biggest creators of entry level jobs would be tax cuts for people making more than $250K.

[null and void]

The “young” can thank Obama for the lack of jobs ...

They'll have jobs...

...im der Obama Jugend!

[InterceptPoint]

52.2%. That’s pretty good. Why don’t we just raise the minimum wage another buck or two and go for 60%. It’s certain to work and it would be a new record. In addition it would help Congressmen and Congresswomen feel good about themselves again. That’s important too.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Every single one needs to be asked how that hope and change is working out for them?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

They can also thank the minimum-wage increase.

Minimum-wage increases ALWAYS result in higher unemployment among the groups the increase was targeted to help.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I lived in Seattle for 10 years and saw a LOT of Bohemiam wannabee street kids.

The one thing that I noticed about ALL of them is the nearly perfect teeth they had.

Certainly, many, many of these “street kids” are trust-fund brats who were raised by very rich parents.

[sphinx]

Another increase in the minimum wage should do the trick.

I think I'm qualified to be Zero's economic czar.

[massmike]

save

[Bringbackthedraft]

Looks like Obama will have to get the Arsenal of Democracy in gear so everyone will get a job one way or another. ;^) (For those of us with a long memory.) I see too many of today’s youth who think they are owed a living. It seems that the dummy-ing down of America has worked well, one only needs to watch Maury once to be convinced. I know longer see the America I grew up in, it died circa 1968.

[dr_who]

No doubt.

[Batrachian]

"They were saying the same stuff about Generation X"

And rightfully so. There isn't enough criticism in the English language for the "Me Generation", and their kids are mostly freeloaders, freaks and Obama voters.

[Nick Danger]

Listen to how even Republican politicians now demonize "profits." Here's one now:

Rep. Bilbray (R-CA): 'Give up some of your profits so Americans can have good health care'

Profit is where the money to grow a business comes from. No profits, no growth. No growth, and the people entering the workforce at the bottom cannot find jobs.

We have a government composed almost entirely of people who have a comic-book-level understanding of our economy. They do everything they can to reduce or tax profits, and then they wonder why young people can't find jobs.

[Bud Krieger]

As someone who managed a business or two over the years I have to say that many young kids are either just flat out lazy, or have disfigured themselves to the point nobody wants to hire them. Some of the interviews I had with these freaks was unreal.

A smart, hard working young person is hard to find nowadays. Heck, a smart, hardworking adult is hard to find nowadays.

[dr_who]

Thanks for your insights, Mr. Bunker.

[TASMANIANRED]

May be they need to raise minimum wage again.. That will help....</sarc>

[gorilla_warrior]

If you want to see the future, look at Europe. Chronic high unemployment, hopelessness, cynicism, all the toxic byproducts of socialism.

[Drew68]

Obama may be making things worse but the self-sabotaged economy was already there.

It was my unscientific observation that immigrants (legal and otherwise) started replacing teens in entry-level jobs back during the tail end of the Clinton Administration.

[Batrachian]

When you say that I have an Archie Bunker mentality then you deny that all of the social ills that plague our society are real. If I'm Mr. Bunker then you're Mr. Rose Colored Glasses.

[GOPJ]

Maybe they can sing for dear leader - ummm, ummmm, ummm...

[dr_who]

Perhaps, but I wouldn’t single out just one generation. Generation X can’t be held responsible for the huge deficits of the 80’s much less the government entitlements that originated in the 30’s, 60’s, and 70’s. But the sort of thinking that lumps everyone of a particular age group together gets pretty tiresome as well.

[Kozak]

As a young unemployed American I want to say this to odumbo :

"THANK YOU" *roll eyes*

Don't forget to thank all those "young voters" who voted Hopeychangey and all the Rats into office too.

[eyedigress]

Getting a job in 1980 was pretty tough as well. Grow up America.

[Running On Empty]

marking

[dr_who]

Come to think of it, I think the people who habitually make idle complaints about the youth in this country have a lot in common with those youts who feel the need to pierce and tatoo themselves everywhere. Both are advertising to one and all that they are dead-enders.

[eyedigress]

I see it as a loss of respect for their individual being. If anybody comes for a job with all kinds of social crap draped across their body, they might as well have slept in.

[dr_who]

Body decoration is definitely a stupid move for job seekers. There’s been no shortage of nutty fashion trends (navel rings are supposed to be sexy?), but I take it for granted that people who go to such lengths not only dislike themselves but also are intentionally trying to repel people.

[Batrachian]

How are people who rightly criticize self destructive and antisocial behavior dead enders? You pulled that one out of your backside.

Your comments indicate a dangerous (and widespread) level of permissiveness.

[dr_who]

Your kids are your own business. How do you go about enforcing your will on kids (yours or anybody elses) who have reached the age of 18 or 21 and have left whatever household they were raised in? You don't. If you think that federal or state courts that are charged with penalizing deadbeat kids for wearing nose rings in addition to being vagrants or criminals, keep in mind that we live in a democracy where people are allowed to vote regardless of how many nose rings they happen to have. I think that's been the situation for at least a couple centuries now. You know, back when men wore pony tails.

As for criticism, the first amendment protects your right to criticize anyone but it doesn't guarantee that you will be listened to by either the voting majority or just narcissistic kids with nose rings, especially if your arguments are seen as dishonest, pedantic rants. If that is a problem for you, check out Iran. They regulate "public permissiveness" better than anybody else around.

And by the way, raise the level of this debate and stop talking about people's backsides.

[Batrachian]

Why do you defend the counterculture? Are you part of it, or is it that to you there’s no right or wrong, but if it feels good, do it? Are there no standards of appearance or decency any more? If not, why not? These kids eventually have to function in the real world, but no one showed them how, or even that they’ll have to try.

[Eva]

The article says that young people are AMONG the hardest hit. The over 55 group are the hardest hit, over 55 college educated MEN. The truth is that no one is retiring, thanks to Obama, that creates a job shortage at the other end of the spectrum because no one can move up, if the older workers are not retiring. The shortage of jobs for teens is a little different. That’s because of the higher minimum wage. The starter kind of jobs are now being filled with laid off older workers and others.

[dr_who]

Why do you defend the counterculture?

Excuse me, but was I defending the counterculture? And if so, who am I supposed to be defending it from?

In truth, I can't completely condemn the counterculture, at least the one that my ex-hippie parents experienced. As far as I can tell, my upbringing was heavily inspired by the way their non-hippie parents brought them up ...minus perhaps a few conflicts that attracted my parents to the 60's counterculture in the first place. Issues like segregration, "the war", etc. It's kind of silly for someone of my age to be sentimental about a past he never experienced first hand, but the more I learn about the past, the less "ideal" it looks to me. I'm sure some people preferred the life they happened to have back then, but it depends on who you ask.

Are you part of it,

Hell no. I'm very picky about the company I keep. Always have been. I was a square in school and like to keep my clean rep in order to maintain a comfy middle class lifestyle. I wonder why that is. As far as I can tell, my godless hippy parents must had some sort of positive influence on me.

Howabout you? Do you wander around the wilderness wearing just a garment made from camel hair and making bold pronouncements about repentence? Wouldn't that be a little bit counter-culture? How would you expect to compete with our annointed commander in chief and his sacred teleprompter?

.. or is it that to you there’s no right or wrong, but if it feels good, do it?

There is right and there is wrong. What do you think about the war in Iraq? Do you agree with the position of the Quakers on that war? Should every morality question be a political one? I can think of countless examples of where Democrat hacks have hijacked debates over public morality and manipulated them to their advantage. Remember the last impeachment battle? Remember what the end result was?

Are there no standards of appearance or decency any more?

Why, no! There never have been! The world has always been going to hell in a handbasket.

Actually, it depends on who you ask and where you go looking for some. The United States is a mighty big place. We've got Baptist churches, Unitarian churches, Roman Catholic Churches, mosques, synagogues, places where nutty Wiccans and Satanists meet, Rotary, Lions club, private and public schools..... take your pick.

A word of warning, however: if you go looking for standards of appearance and decency in our nation's capital, chances are that you are going to get taken for a ride. Senators up there can't keep the roads in good repair much less keep their pants on. Governors tend to have the same problem. I'd like to like some of our leaders, but I don't think I'm the only voter who sees the cognitive dissonance about morality in government everywhere.

If not, why not? These kids eventually have to function in the real world, but no one showed them how, or even that they’ll have to try.

Yes, that's why parents are so darned important. Always have been. I think the question you need to ask yourself is this: do parents need a "Judeo-Christian Values" czar to tell them how to do their job? What are they going to do if someone like Obama has the job of appointing one? Howabout public school teachers, like the unionized ones who all voted for Obama or the pervert teachers you read in the headlines about? Are they an alternative to parents? Health and human services bureaucrats? Let's hear about your proposed legislative program for redeeming the country's youth.