“They all have useless degrees. One — drama. The other — marketing (kind of useless). People with in-demand skills eventually get jobs.”
In northern NJ man companies have fled or collapsed; there is little demand for any type of degree now. There are jobs driving trucks and working in convenience stores; not much else (and there aren’t enough of those jobs for everyone in this densely-populated area).
I don’t doubt that the job market is tough in the Northeast. I have family in N.J. and N.Y. However, young people can find work if they have the right skills (can be vocational or college obtained) and are willing to move where the work is. That’s what I did when I joined the military. I left N.Y. when I was 18 and never looked back.