Posted on 07/29/2020 7:25:45 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Covid-19 continues to unleash economic havoc across the world. The financial destruction being caused by the pandemic is shattering already fragile household budgets. In the deep levels of this fog, Millennials continue to face extra layers of pressure from this crisis. This has come in the form of massive levels of student debt, a higher proportion of gig work and retail work, and ultimately no financial cushion of wealth. While some older generations have made it a sport to bash Millennials, they forget that many decades ago a one-income household was enough to purchase a home or that you could work a blue collar job and support a family. Today, blue collar work might keep the lights on but forget about buying a home in most large cities in the U.S. You also have the added layer of the cost of college. A generation ago, you could work summer jobs on a paper route and pay your way to school. Good luck doing that today when some colleges charge $60,000 a year just for a 4-year degree. Many Millennials are being caught in a two-recession trap.
First, the economy has not recovered and we are still at high levels of unemployment. Take a look at the latest figures:
31.8 million people continue to collect unemployment benefits. That is an astronomically large number. But when you look at what jobs are being impacted the most, those in retail, food services, and gig work much of this is done by younger workers:
Retail trade and accommodation and food services are heavily filled with younger workers. These industries require face-to-face interaction for the most part and do not provide a good venue for working from home arrangements – which a large number of white-collar jobs allow (and most require a college degree – see student debt above for this Catch 22). So a vicious cycle emerges here. In order to break into the corporate world, you need a college degree. But not any degree, a degree in a highly sought-after field from a good school (keep in mind there are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. and many are not worth the money they charge). A 17 or 18 year old has a hard time deciphering the long-term ROI on a college degree but many colleges are happy to stick a person like this into a $60,000 a year degree for general education undergraduate courses. And many this year will not get the in-person experience in the fall.
Going back to the impacted fields, these also employ the highest number of Americans:
Therefore the unemployment figures are off the charts if we really measure them correctly. The unemployment insurance claims paint a very grim picture. Many Millennials graduated college into the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and never really recovered since then. This “booming” economy recently was largely driven by inflated asset values (Millennials own relatively little stock and real estate which are the top drivers of wealth) so missed out on this latest bull run. Even now, the stock market is doing relatively well given the reality that we are in a deep depression and the economy is operating on crutches. But hey, you can drive a fancy Tesla (bought with debt), order a box of toys from Amazon (on a credit card), and do it all from your iPhone (financed by your cell provider). There is nothing wrong with these companies or their products but they do not represent the majority of the economy.
And speaking of wealth building, the biggest asset to build wealth for American families is housing. And Millennials keep falling further behind on this one:
In 1981, the median age of a home buyer was 31. Today it is 47. People usually bought homes when they felt ready to settle down and start a family. Today, many simply do not have that security (see previous jobs of younger Americans) and yet somehow older generations berate Millennials. The irony is many go off on Millennials via digital platforms run and operated by Millennials.
Why is this important?
This pandemic is hitting people hard across all age ranges, but younger people are facing a much tougher economic situation. Recessions are wealth destroyers and Millennials are now living through two of the worst recessions in the last 100 years. And as America gets older and many will rely on Social Security and Medicare, older generations should be working hard to ensure there is a good economy for young workers so they can pay taxes to support the needs that are coming downstream. Given how poorly we prepared for this pandemic with fair warning, we need to get on the same page and start planning now for this next phase.
quote “forget about buying a home in most large cities in the U.S”
well... there ya go! the answer is right there in the article! DONT LIVE IN A LARGE US CITY!
and PRESTO! you can afford a home!
“...shortages of basic supplies such as food, weapons, and blankets, British blockades and occupation, cold winters and disease, no basic utilities, TV or internet...oh wait, that was 1775. Yeah, todays youth face so much worse, have to feel sorry for them...[:o”
You are really making a dumb argument.
The millennials today really have been screwed. I see what my nieces and nephews have gone through and they have their heads on straight-college degrees, married no bad habits. Sky high home prices(unless you want to live in ghetto or white trash meth hoods and outrageous living expenses, expensive daycare, their jobs offshored or replaced by Singh Patel, many co’s going to 1099 subcontract labor so no bennies.
Is there any hope remaining that Millennials will “get woke” to the horror that awaits them if they don’t join in the fight to eradicate the Democrat/Left Party? I remain hopeful they just might, although I acknowledge that while Millennials complain about the crises that await them, a lot of them seem to relish in it!
bingo!
when they say they can’t afford a home... what they are really saying is they cant afford a McMansion! they could easily afford a 2 bedroom 1 bath home with no AC and a gally kitchen like they point out people “used” to be able to buy!
When their safety nets (mom and dad) are gone, they will find themselves right behind the 8 ball.
They’re squandering precious time and effort trying to subvert the ‘system’.
The system they oppose, holds the very success or failure for their entire future. Getting a late or a stumbling start on that is devastating and could irreversibly stack the deck against them.
They will have made themselves wards of the state forever and WE will pick up the tab for THEM, too.
“well... there ya go! the answer is right there in the article! DONT LIVE IN A LARGE US CITY!
and PRESTO! you can afford a home!”
Problem is the nice career job’s you can actually retire with are only available in the larger metropolitan areas.
I live in a semi rural area-towns are 5-8k in pop size. Yeah houses are cheap. Problem is Jobs. There are no decent ones. Yeah there are plenty of help wanted signs. average 10-12 hr tops, most p/t and no benefits
My son just graduated with a BS in Biotechnology.
He had less than $20K in debt.
He was hired by a major Pharma company last month making $60K straight out of college.
If you got a computer science or engineering degree you wouldn’t have these problems.
ah! but that’s the thing! what you are describing is opportunity to start your own business, which is how most people gain wealth. That is a very small town though I will admit, the best opportunities lie in mid size towns under 500,000 people but above 50,000 and growing.
“When you pour 60 million people into the country over a 40 year period and keep letting in 2 million more every year it ends up in absurd prices for housing and low wages because of the intense competition.”
Don’t forget the outsourcing of manufacturing and wanted destruction of manufacturing unions. The environmentalists whose actions resulted in jobs going to places that are causing even more environmental damage. The worst environmental tragedies have occurred in communist/socialist countries.
Blessed are those Americans whom employ and provide for other Americans. The people of this Nation need to remember what works.
yep, people can go to the local community college that costs almost nothing, get a USEFUL degree and be earning great money in a few years with no debt.
The not spoken about secret about H1-B’s:
If you are in a STEM field you compete with ‘guest workers’ and illegals who work for less than you can legally run a car.
And if you are lucky enough to get work you ‘age out’ at 30 - 35.
Its not a dumb argument. Every generation before todays spoiled brat generation had it tougher but made the best of what they had and built a better life. Not all, but the whiny component in general of the generations since the fall of the soviet union, have been nothing but ‘me, me, me’ in terms of believing they need instant gratification, a house that most earlier generations wouldnt see until they had 40 years of work behind them (if at all), a cushy job where no labor (or thinking) is involved, and no need to save for their own retirement.
Sky high home prices(unless you want to live in ghetto or white trash meth hoods
um.. try living in a mid size city of a few hundred thousand instead of a liberal hell hole.
and outrageous living expenses,
same answer as the above
expensive daycare,
no day care required when the wife stays home
their jobs offshored or replaced by Singh Patel,
it’s America start your own business
many co’s going to 1099 subcontract labor so no bennies.
cant blaim them, you can thank liberals for that. Again, it’s America I encourage them to start their own business in a mid size city in a conservative state.
Based upon your comments no wonder conservatives get the rap as heartless bastards.
Your generation didn’t have to compete with millions of LEGAL immigrants, some of them indentured servants ( H,L visas), flooding into the US every year.
heartless for pointing out the solutions to all the problems?
If you CHOOSE to live in a liberal hell hole, you will pay for that.
Sorry if that makes me sound heartless.
One problem, the neighborhoods that those homes are in are high crime drug infested run down near ghettos. I don't even want to talk about the public schools in those places...
I live in a mid size city in Texas. A nice home (brand new brick 4 bedroom) here in a good neighborhood with amazing schools costs about $150,000. You can get a degree at the local community college for $5,550 a year and be offered a job after 2 years earning 60-80K straight out of school.
If giving out good advice and offering solutions is cruel and heartless .. then YEP! I am
***Article’s 1st point. Many decades since one income pays all the bills. This has been true throughout my lifetime.***
I guess my husband and I don’t exist. We have always lived off of one income. At first, I was the bread winner. He worked a 100% commission job hoping to score big. That didn’t happen. At night he went to grad school.
Then the first kid came. He got a better job. I stayed home with the baby. Then another baby, then another. We remained a one income family from the mid-80s up to and including the present day.
It wasn’t easy to make ends meet every month, but we had a strict budget and lived within those means. We still do it that way. We aren’t fancy, and don’t live extravagantly.
Over the years we have managed to go from paycheck to paycheck to socking away a little more each month. Now we have a good savings account, and hopefully he can retire in the next 5 years.
Plan the work, and work the plan.
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