Upside Down - Why millennials can’t start their careers and baby boomers can’t end theirs.

[kpete]

It’s hard to say this spring whether it’s more difficult for the class of 2011 to enter the labor force or for the class of 1967 to leave it.

Students now finishing their schooling—the class of 2011—are confronting a youth unemployment rate above 17 percent. The problem is compounding itself as those collecting high school or college degrees jostle for jobs with recent graduates still lacking steady work. “The biggest problem they face is, they are still competing with the class of 2010, 2009, and 2008,” says Matthew Segal, cofounder of Our Time, an advocacy group for young people.

At the other end, millions of graying baby boomers—the class of 1967—are working longer than they intended because the financial meltdown vaporized the value of their homes and 401(k) plans. For every member of the millennial generation frustrated that she can’t start a career, there may be a baby boomer frustrated that he can’t end one.

Cumulatively, these forces are inverting patterns that have characterized the economy since Social Security and the spread of corporate pensions transformed retirement.

the rest:
http://nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/our-upside-down-workforce-20110609

[karynnj]

1. In some cases, the graduates of 1967 are the parents of the current graduates

or their peers who graduated in the last several years. The fact that their offspring are not yet secure is another part of their reluctance to "jump off the meery-go- round", knowing that they can't then easily return.

[annabanana]

3. Let me tell you.. It's a PINCH!. . . . .AND

we're worried about geriatric care for OUR folks, "the Greatest"...

[OKNancy]

4. Right here. Class of '71

and class of 2008. My daughter is one of the "under-employed". She is living at home and that is just fine with me.
We can use the help. Fortunately, we get along great.
We just are treading water and hoping to pay of her student loans before I die!!

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[Lifelong Protester]

5. Well said. Class of '77 here. Will be working as long as I can.

I don't feel as guilty as some (about taking a young person's job) as I teach a world language, and they teacher colleges just aren't making many of those, so if I retire, there isn't a ready replacement.

[cmd]

6. Looking back, I'm a member of the fortunate generation

I was a war baby - too young to identify with the Great Depression, too old to be a Boomer. I've been able to live the "American Dream". Don't get me wrong, I'm far from rich. However, my husband and I do own our own modest $100,000 house. We have two cars, one that is old enough to get it's own driver's license and the other over a decade old. We also have two pensions that allow us to pay our bills, eat out frequently and hire help with the things we can no longer do on our own. Those pensions are what put me in the "fortunate generation". I feel so sorry for everyone younger than me who are not going to be able to retire in comfort. I owe my lifestyle to unions. I thank them every day that I don't have to worry about my personal security. Until the end of my life I will be fighting for everyone else. I want everyone to enjoy my good fortune. Not rich, but not worried about my next meal or a place to live, I remain cmd.

[abelenkpe]

10. Thank you!

Wish everyone in your generation felt the same. :) My parents are tea party folk happy to deny their children and grandchildren any chance of retirement.

[InkAddict]

7. And in their great wisdom, TPTB have chopped off both ends of

the dough (flanks), keeping the tenderloins for themselves but roasting it dry and inedible.

[damntexdem]

8. I have no intention of leaving the labor force for many years.

Of course, it helps that I'm a tenured university professor, making it possible. But I also don't want to stop, even though I've "retired" from three different universities. Even aside from the financial meltdown, retirement was already changing -- rather, worklife has been changing for older workers. And the blame for millenials' inability to get jobs: not older workers staying on, rather both the financial meltdown and the destruction of American jobs already long underway before the meltdown.

[JDPriestly]

9. The jobs have been outsourced.

Lots of us older people would love to be working but we have disabilities that make us unemployable in this competitive market.

A lot of our disabilities are simple things -- like gray hair and worn hands, a shake or a crookedness here or there, poor eyesight, bad hearing, those sorts of things. But in this economy, employers are very, very choosy.

And they will hire a younger person whenever they can. It's just that the jobs have been outsourced.

And now, more and more of the creative, top jobs are being done in other countries.

We have to tax imports. That is our only hope. We have to do it one way or the other. I suggest a Value Added Tax across the board on all sales because that tax will not completely offend our trading partners since it does not discriminate so obviously against imports. I would prefer a straight import tax, but the Chamber of Commerce would revolt completely. They wouldn't want a VAT tax either. It would cause people to think twice before buying stuff. But I think it would help increase our tax revenue and even out the tax burdens on domestic and foreign manufacturers.

Of course, I would not impose a VAT tax on things like food or children's clothing or medicines. That's the way you ease the burden on the lower income people. But if folks want to buy a toy made in China, they should pay a tax that goes to support, say Medicaid on that purchase just as they would if they bought that same toy made in the US. (The tax on the item made in the US is taken out of the pay check of the employees who help make the US-made toy.) As we have closed our factories and lost our best paying jobs, we have reduced the tax revenue. That is our problem.

[abelenkpe]

11. If health insurance was not the responsibility of employers

they would be much more likely to hire older more experiences workers. With a healthy amount of experienced workers employers tend to invest more on younger employees too that they know they have to get up to speed. Single payer would help US businesses compete with companies in countries that have universal health care and currently are able to underbid US companies.

[JDPriestly]

12. That may be true.