How bad is the Economy in the U.S.? Look to the struggling youth.

so essentially op, what you are saying is that me and my girlfriend, who are both employed by Wal-Mart as regular hourly wage earners, are better off than a large percentage of college graduates who majored in some very expensive fields?? Especially considering that we have close to $12k in savings from the $4k-$5k we save every year during tax time for the two kids we have had, now three. Kids that we support believe it or not without ever having received a dime from EBT/SNAP(food stamps), WIC, daycare assistance or Medicaid/medicare whatever applies. Not that I have not tried over the years, but apparently when you tell the truth during application two people working at Wal-Mart make more than enough money to support a family of four and are not qualified to receive any of this assistance, real story. You know what, they were right. We have gotten along just fine without gov assistance and we take cross country vacations a couple times a year, have a nice 47"3d led tv and are able to eat out quite often. I guess it really IS about how one manages their money.

Well man I knew there was a reason I did not go to college. It always seemed like a suckers game to me. Take out huge five to six figure loans, work at an hourly wage job anyways for the years it takes to graduate, and then pray to God you will have the chance to work for somebody else anyways at the end?? Thanks but no thanks. If I ever have the opportunity to take some college courses, it will not be a major of any kind. I will simply study the skills I need for the plans I have to make my own damn money without having to be employed by another.

I already make side money doing simple mechanical "favors" (cant tax favors) on peoples automobiles. As well as installation of consumer home electronics and home networks. I even setup the network for a guy who owns a sandwich shop once with the help of my brother. He is doing ok, maybe not the right time to sell sandwiches.

Maybe the lesson to get from this, if you don't plan on going to college, work in the city. And if you do go to college, move to the city anyways or take what you learned and apply it to create a niche with those skills in your small town community.

I will be honest though, I am a little bit jealous that most of my friends get gov money outside of the tax season for their families and we do not. No we are not married either.

23/Aus/19% youth unemployment area

I just found a job last week, started this week. It's been such a relief after living off government assistance for so long.

WTF is wrong with Australia??? I make between 1300-1400 a month and my girl just shy of 1800 and we both support a family of four comfortably. A house is in our future within five years. FROM MOTHER#ING WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really do think this is an issue that is being politicized needlessly.

Just look at the debt we are in.

Everything else seems absurdly trivial after that.

I've read through this entire thread with great interest and I noticed how no one has mentioned to any great extent the fact that most job postings require an education beyond high school. If you meet all the requirements for the job application, you will have a better chance for landing a job if you were involved in related extra curricular activities and will also need a few years of real life experience. Not to mention most jobs require a permanent address, a valid driver's license and a reliable car. Many job also require being healthy enough to lift 50 to 100 lbs regularly during your shifts.

This is a complex problem that crosses many demographics across all generations, but I can see that the latest generation is in a particularly bad position for upward mobility.

Perhaps it is not out of the question to view generation-Y, or, the generation of 20-somethings as a "lost" generation; a generation of people lost in the system.

By the time you're done working your first year at a full time job you find yourself feeling like you're slowly dying.
You want more excitement in your life, and realize that you only have so many years to lead a fulfilling life. Wasting time should scare the crap out of you. You become stuck in the system, you realize that your 40 hour workday may pay some living expenses, but then you also realize that you have no time to travel or live your life - you become stuck in the system. You get that feeling like you should be doing something big with your life, but you just can't figure out what it is, like this feeling hanging over your head that you're supposed to figure out your destiny or something.

There's just so many choices

Do I go to college? And if I do, am I going to be satisfied years later with my career choice? Will I find a job in my field? Am I going to be able to pay off all my loans? What if something happens and I choose to live somewhere else, will I be able to work this kind of job there?
Do I drop everything, travel to Guatemala, eat out of bowls and live among the local tribes?
Should I just join the military so I can make money, travel, and get an education all at once?
Should I indulge in a start-up?

A $23K annual salary will only allow you to roughly afford $575 a month for rent and utilities, that is if you are lucky enough to even be making that much in your 20s, or be employed at all for that matter. You should just be lucky you have a job if you have one. So, will you choose live in a shed or with your parents? Do you choose to get married at such a young age in hopes of some financial stability and comfort, or a false sense of it thereof? Do you jump around from apartment to apartment with various roommates and in tern find yourself with zero stability?


Some may get too comfortable with their every day 40-hour a week jobs and say to themselves "I can go off and live my dream whenever I want.” Tomorrow is just too convenient.. 10,20,30 years later we wake up with a house full of kids and a family, realizing that they got sidetracked somewhere down the road.

You tell yourself, well my job is good enough, I make good enough money, I have a decent car, and perhaps a decent spouse, my house or apartment is pretty decent, but yet you still feel that weight on your back like you are still missing something. You' become so caught up with gaining more and more "STUFF" in hopes it will raise your status, or make you feel better, look better, make your life better. But none of it does. You still have that nagging feeling at the back of your head like you are missing something.



"Employers (the controllers) don't care if you're a genius with a high school diploma, or an idiot with a master's degree, just as long as you have some form of higher education."

reply to post by DYepes


Stop talking sense. That has no place in todays everybody wins world.

The thing is, you didn't play fair. You played by a different set of rules, you rebeled. You went out and did something with what you had. HOW DARE YOU! Picking yourself up and moving on...the audacity.

I've seen it time and time again. People who think that they are something, just because they went to college. And half the time, they aren't even working in the fields they studied.

I have little sympathy for todays youth. They are living the dream just like we had to.

Welcome to the real world kiddies. No, not that lame MTV show, but the actual one.

Originally posted by MichiganSwampBuck
I've read through this entire thread with great interest and I noticed how no one has mentioned to any great extent the fact that most job postings require an education beyond high school. If you meet all the requirements for the job application, you will have a better chance for landing a job if you were involved in related extra curricular activities and will also need a few years of real life experience. Not to mention most jobs require a permanent address, a valid driver's license and a reliable car. Many job also require being healthy enough to lift 50 to 100 lbs regularly during your shifts.

This is a complex problem that crosses many demographics across all generations, but I can see that the latest generation is in a particularly bad position for upward mobility.

I haven't really seen anything about networking either. I actually hate that phrase. It's called making friends. Friends help friends for the most part.

Most kids nowadays are thinking that they will start at the middle, because starting at the bottom is a insult to their supposed education.

My advice to them; Ya have to start somewhere...but you have to start first.

OP,

This topic is very close to home for me too, you arent alone thats for damn sure. Alittle about me I am 27 joined the USMC at 17 back in 2003 was in the infantry for more then 4 years and then a protective services agent for awhile there after. While abroad as difficult as it was I worked on doing MCI (Navy Marine corps education courses) tried not to get killed and do a good job. I came home couldn't find a job so I went to college found a job working for an under the table construction job usually working with dangerous ppl who got high on the job and would act pretty crazy. Finished school got a job worked there for a year till they closed down, couldnt find another job that paid decent wages within my ability to travel. I went homeless for awhile had almost everything I owned either stolen or pawned. After a while I had someone pick me up out of the gutter as I was very depressed hungry and tired often scared and ashamed of myself didn't know what to do tried all kinds of things temp agencies etc etc they wont work with you without an address, cell phone, etc, because of my GI Bill they claimed I "made" too much money to qualify for other services etc etc (this is a long ass story if I put it all out there) after getting picked up out of the gutter, what did I do, went back to school for welding, graduated that. Took me about 8 months after that to get a job that had me working almost 300 miles away from home living either out of a car I borrowed from a friend cause i dont own one myself my car was wrecked in a snowstorm (cant afford a new used one either) and after getting paid, living out of hotel rooms in which i experienced rates for a nasty little prison cell room continue to rise. Then I get laid off. Now I am back on the grind looking for work too it is hard to work when you now have no car as I gave my friend his car bback as he needs it and probably going to end up homeless again. Their are alot of people out there that do not understand the over qualified or under experienced catch 22 that is out there as well ppl always say oh mcdonalds and wal mart is always hiring I call BS on that as well I tried both and they wouldnt hire me I could yammer on all day about my rough experiences since being out of the service at one point I was contemplating suicide and all kinds of evil thoughts, it never got any better till someone helped pick me up, but even now it isnt easy never will be either

reply to post by darkbake



Wow your OP sounds like a cheesy pitch for the "save the children" foundation. It has been my experience that a lot the people who go to college and get useless degrees and are unable to find work are quite surprised.....REALLY? It's just my opinion but I think that a lot of people who go to college these days are lazy and are just trying to get by the easiest way they know how, engineers and scientists are not having that hard of a time finding jobs and if they tell you that they are they are just plain lazy. This is not something that is just happening now... about 13 years ago I managed a specialty retail store and was in charge of the hiring process. I had more people applying for jobs that had bachelors and masters degrees that those that didn't. I found them to be lazy and full of themselves. I thought it quite sad, to spend so much time and money on a college education only to work at a job that pays you $14/hr.

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


Nothing has ever been free! Why is it any different now that it was 100 years ago? Things weren't free then either. The only thing that I can see that has changed much is that society has generally become much lazier and want things for free when they aren't entitled to them. My father and grandfathers fought on foreign soil for our country, then came home, got jobs and worked themselves to death to provide for their families. Today a lot of peoples ideas of providing for their families is collecting SNAP or food stamps. College is more of a novelty today with people going and getting useless degrees and then bitching and moaning about their student loans and being unable to find work... and then get up in arms when someone tells them that maybe instead of a degree in basket weaving they could have gotten a chemical engineering degree... but that degree would have taken hard work to obtain..... lazy. Anyone who expects something for free is going to find out the only free thing they can look forward to is rent when they are living on the street.

reply to post by DYepes


Yes it sounds like you are doing better than many of our recent college graduates who hold useless degrees or are lazy. I commend you for being able to support 3 kids without government assistance while working at a company who has been harshly criticized in the media by creating a harsh low paying thankless work environment for their employees. I have no idea how they treat employees but if you are able to survive and save $$ and do it without help from the "enablers" in our government I salute you! It's shows that you are not lazy, that is a rare thing these days.

you cant find a job or a way to make money? are you serious? you're part of the pc/internet generation. there are tons of kids on youtube making more money than they would with a 'real job'.

i am 25 and i made plenty of money online. even after being made fun of for years for having 'dreams' cause everyone is told day by day through school they have to do good there so they can graduate and go work for someone.

internet = money. the entire globe is connected through these machines like a super highway. advertisements are on every website not for looks, or to 'pay the hosting bill' but because it makes them a profit. its as simple as putting up a bunch of content about underwear and putting underwear advertisements on it.

also, not sure what this pampered older generation you speak of is. my grandfather was the type of guy who would say he wore potato sacks to school because they couldn't afford clothes.

Originally posted by darkbake
reply to post by SubTruth

 

I think that generation woke up as soon as they graduated college. I'm not sure if they are going to be able to raise families. And I don't think it all has to do with bad parenting, but I think there was some of that? Also... I think the generation has some issues like those you were alluding to, including side-effects from advances in human networking technology.

I believe in liberalism in the sense that everyone, including the poor, should be able to live decent lives - but I don't believe in it when it becomes extremist and actually has the opposite effect on society. I look at the behavior of political philosophies more than their "agendas".

There is corruption on both sides of the political isle that was not handled in time - and probably will not be handled in time - to prevent revolution at the cost of those people's lives and others. We are talking about an increasing chance of revolution every year that the richer folk die and the younger folk are born, since there is a very clear time cut-off.

It will not be handled in time if excuses keep on being made - and if the blame is shifted around instead of the problems being solved - and if the older generation continues to deny what is happening with the younger generation - these are all terrible policies.

As a side note, sir, I would like to point out that unrealistic liberal policies can result in economic collapse. Although corporate extremism results in slavery. Look at what we have here in America right now - two extremist political parties. So that means economic collapse and slavery, which is basically what I was getting at in the O.P.

edit on 21-7-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 21-7-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

edit on 21-7-2013 by darkbake because: (no reason given)

Great OP, and great follow-up post. I look forward to reading the replies in this thread (I haven't gotten there yet!).

I am 27, with a child, on food stamps. Around 2010, I got to see both of my parents lose their jobs. My father is STILL unemployed, and my mother has a part-time job at a retail store in the local Mall. My father is on food stamps as well.

My sister graduated college around 2000, deen's list, knows 7 languages, is 30 years old, and is hardly making enough to survive.

I went through 2 years of Uni, had a child, and couldn't balance raising a child, working, and school. THAT is my fault completely, and I understand. I blame NO ONE for my life choices.

What DOES suck, and is out of my control, is the ability to find full-time work that will allow me to support my child, and pay off my student loans.


I will say, I HAVE seen more and more job opportunities open up recently, in the past 3-4 months. First time in YEARS. I'm optimistic for the FIRST time in a long time.


My generation (20-30 year old, as you mention) is certainly having a hard time. Those of my generation who got college degrees are DEFINITELY not getting back much in return. Job opportunities, although seemingly improving, are still terrible right now. The economy is still struggling and sputtering.


Times are hard right now....and as the old saying goes, "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer".


I honestly don't think our country is sustainable anymore. In the long run, either our country will implode , and the infastructures will collapse.....or we will go the route of COMPLETE police state, totalitarian government. We will NEED to do that, just to maintain some kind of order. I see one of the two (or both) happening within the next 30 years. Hope I'm wrong.

Originally posted by geobro
the youth in america is just like the youth in a lot of european countries LOST i would hate to be young now.

in japan there are a generation that does not go out and it is the young males the world is broken not just the states .

best of luck bud but keep your chin up

I believe this is true as well.

The world has always been broken, more or less, barely getting by, except for few instances in history where things flourish for a bit. However, that fleeting moment of temporarily flourishing usually peaks out, and things go downhill once again.

The thing is, the USA has always been seen as a beacon in the world. Now that the Great Big USA is finally failing, I think it is really opening our eyes up quite a bit.

The thing is, we've had a technological and spiritual explosion in the past few decades....and human civilization hasn't caught up yet. Things like phones, internet, 3d printers, and hundreds of new technologies have already started to alter human civilization in ways we couldn't have imagined before these technologies emerged.

I think our entire framework for civilization is going to have to be re-worked, in order for mankind to progress in a positive manner.

The USA can STILL be a beacon in this world , however, I think our time is over. I think other countries, especially those in South America and elsewhere, will be the ones to shine in the next 100 years.


The USA got to lead the world for half a century (give or take). Now we are dwindling, and I think other countries will become beacons for freedom (we obviously aren't a beacon of freedom anymore), development, and high civilization.




Also, now that we have the internet, I think the whole "Arab Spring" thing was just a TASTE of things to come in the next 100 years. I honestly believe that just about every country is going to transist into something new in the next 50 years or so.

reply to post by Brotherman


Are you a certified welder and you are having trouble finding work? Really?

Hell man, come to TX, or LA. I know lots of welders who work on pipelines or offshore and they make bank. Always in demand too. Start looking them up and calling them and send them resumes and I'm sure you will get hired in no time.

Originally posted by SubTruth
reply to post by darkbake

 

What you get is 30 year old children who have little to no real life experience. You also get a government who will control more and more of your so called free economy...........

It will always fail and sadly both political parties are controlled by these fascist scum.

Being out of work, not having a job and trying to find ways of making ends meet is real-life experience.

Many of the people who started up companies lived like that in Silicon Valley in the 1970's. Then at least one person struck gold and found a way of making money, then they brought in their friends. So even if you are unemployed along with your friends, you are at least creating a social network of people to call when you need to find someone.

Unfortunately, now we have Wall Street and the banks trying to suck out every last nickel out of our pockets.
Though that wasn't any different from the governments in the 1970's.

I do think that it is pretty scary out there right now. I have a 17 year old son that I fully expect to have living with me past college. While I do believe that college is just a waste of time/money, unfortunately, nowadays it is hard to find a job that does not require it. I have even found housekeeping jobs where they want you to be college educated for $8.00 an hour scrubbing toilets! I know there are jobs right now that don't require it, but it seems to be a growing trend that more and more jobs are requiring one.

Recently, a friend and I tried out for a job - I do not have a degree and he has a degree in French Literature. I have 16+ years work experience and he? He has about a year of work experience. The job we tried out for was a basic customer service job paying around $10 an hour. I must say this was just an experiment as he is an author and I already have a job. He was the only one called back. They wanted someone with a degree, even though I have over 10 years customer service experience and he had none at all, they were ready to hire him on the spot. Not sure how much use a French Literature degree is worth to a company providing cable television customer service.

I definitely worry about the future, I honestly do not know how children just graduating from high school are going to go out and make it on their own. Rent around these parts is outrageous - $800 for a one bedroom in a high crime area and yet the jobs around here not only haven't upped what they are paying people, in some cases they have downgraded. A job I worked 16 years ago paid $11 an hour then, and now? It has added a lot more workload to the same job and pays $9.00 an hour. So much for progress.

Ok listen, it is not as if I don't have sympathy for the over qualified unemployed. really I do. But it just sounds like some people are not applying themselves. I will say this at least, there is no reason that anyone who is unemployed but owns a truck should be unemployed at all. I used to own a truck myself while I was working at Wal-Mart. I would spend my lunch break tearing apart old appliances and electronics for scrap metal from my daily hauls. I Would haul junk for people to the dump. I would help them move for a small fee. ANYTHING! If you own a truck or have access to one, there is no reason you could not at least make a little extra money to survive.

You could even hit the pawn shop for some used lawn care supplies and start landscaping. There really is too much you could do. My next step after we buy our house in a few years it to setup contract with the local apartments to offer recycling containers, and purchase or lease a baler. Virtually no apartments in my city offer recycling. I plan on being a part to fill that hole. A bale of aluminum cans can earn thousands. Bales of plastic not as much, but will at least add to the money.

I love laborious work. If I won the lotto, I would probably quit walmart and spend my time as a scrap dealer, because I honest to god just love tearing apart metal. Find out what your real passion is, and make a plan to at least make some kind of money from it by doing it on your own. I don't think I was ever happier then when I was in the back of my truck de-manufacturing old appliances and electronics. I sure would not get rich on it, but it was fun and it did bring in extra income.

Just please don't get a degree in fashion and expect to make it big when you move to New York or LA. You will likely still start as a mail clerk or something in a company if you get hired at all.

Originally posted by unb3k44n7


A $23K annual salary will only allow you to roughly afford $575 a month for rent and utilities, that is if you are lucky enough to even be making that much in your 20s, or be employed at all for that matter. You should just be lucky you have a job if you have one. So, will you choose live in a shed or with your parents? Do you choose to get married at such a young age in hopes of some financial stability and comfort, or a false sense of it thereof? Do you jump around from apartment to apartment with various roommates and in tern find yourself with zero stability?



"Employers (the controllers) don't care if you're a genius with a high school diploma, or an idiot with a master's degree, just as long as you have some form of higher education."

edit on 23-7-2013 by unb3k44n7 because: eta quote

You might want to do the math again on this one.... $23K a year is a monthly salary of roughly $1916, that low of an annual salary and claiming 1 on your W2 would bring in roughly $1500 a month... more than enough to survive on if your single it will pay rent and utilities and food and still have some spending money left over for entertainment. Too bad that a lot of younger people have no idea of how to budget or live somewhat frugally, since a lot of them seem to believe that the internet and a cell phone is a need rather than a want.