Posted on 05/12/2012 6:28:23 AM PDT by Kaslin
Walter Russell Mead writes on the disappearance of jobs for non-Baby Boomers:
An analysis of recent jobs figures at Investor.com reveals a disturbing development: the biggest beneficiaries from the economic recovery are Boomers, while everyone else is getting the shaft.
Since the Obama administration took office, there has been an epochal shift. Young workers have continued to lose jobs and incomes, while older workers have actually gained ground.
In fact, the Obama administration has seen a boom in the prospects of the 55+ crowd; their (I should say ‘our’) employment stands at a 42 year high. Net, there are 3.9 new jobs for people over 55 since the recession began in December 2007, but there are 8.1 million fewer jobs for the young folks since that time.
Jed Graham's IBD article features a chart that shows the employment-to-population ratio that applies for the following age groupings: Age 16-24, Age 25-55 and Age 55 and up:
In the chart, we see that those Age 55 and older would appear to have a near constant share of their population group having jobs.
Meanwhile, we see significant decreases in the employment share of the populations for both the Age 25-54 group and especially for the Age 16-24 group since December 2007, which marks the beginning of the so-called "Great Recession".
We thought that outcome was interesting enough to dig deeper into the data to see how the age distribution of the U.S. workforce has changed over this period of time.
And to make it really interesting, we've decided to go back to November 2006 to do it. Here's why:
The downside to our more detailed approach is that we're not going to be able to use the BLS' seasonally-adjusted data for these older five-year age groupings, because the BLS only reports the non-seasonally adjusted data it collects for them, which means that the data we'll be using won't match these more commonly reported values.
Still, because we'll be comparing the data for the same month (November) five years apart, our analysis should only differ in very minor respects from what might be achieved using seasonally-adjusted data, if it had been available.
We're going to do this in a three-part series of posts, with this post being the first. Our next stop: the change in the age distribution of the American workforce from November 2006 to November 2011!
I am thinking that maybe the best path to a strong nation is not to divide people into groups and then pit the groups against one another: race v. race, gender v. gender, generation v. generation, religion v. religion, working v. stay at home, class v. class, etc. We seem to be going more towards tribalism and pack thinking and away from individualism and freedom.
Why change a line when it’s short, sweet, and to the point?
BTW, do you find that name-calling like a middle-schooler causes people to take you seriously?
I took the approach of not being greedy, and am retiring early, and your saying I am not giving a chance? I am leaving so a younger person can have the opportunity. How hypocritical is that?
I absolutly stand by my claim that yours is the "entitlement generation". Very few of these kids want to pay their dues, wanting promotions and opportunites, for no reasons. In my early days, working 50-70 hours was the rule to help get ahead. The young now value their down time too much to put in that effort. And when I do have them work OT, it is with displeasure. Lastly, the quality of work has seems to be less for the younger workforce. I have seen college graduates who almost appear illiterate, but want to be the next supervisor.
If you want another 50 examples Freepmail me I will bend your ear like no other.
Agreed however there is a strong hatred of young people on FR.
The young are going to be the caretakers of this nation soon. Ever think that the older generation should be teaching the younger generation instead of despising and ignoring us?
Just a thought and this is not directed at you personally but rather FR in general.
If there is any division in the ranks, it shouldn't be boomers vs. younger workers but private sector workers who have lost their jobs due to the massive tax and regulatory structures required to feed and expand the porcine Federal and state bureaucracies vs. the beneficiaries of all of that government largesse.
That’s a good point, too. I know a heckuva lot of them who’ve been forced into raising their grandkids/great-grandkids because the parents are losers, addicts, drunks, or all of the above.
I agree however not all of us are represented by that group.
Please don’t paint with a broad brush.
Who's fault is that ultimately?
I retired at 61 as the auto industry imploded in late 08.
That was definitely earlier than I had planned to leave but I’m enjoying it immensely. I think we emphasize finances too much vs the other things you get to enjoy, the gift of low stress, lots of time to do things you enjoy, etc. Things that don’t have to be expensive.
As for the “under 30” crowd, we shouldn’t paint them with too broad a brush. I hang out at an auto service shop that employs about 10 guys, most of them 25 to 35 age bracket and they all work darn hard.
Nobody wants to hire a wet-behind-the-ears idiot that has no clue about real work. America’s learning institutions are pushing out about 10 percent of a functional workforce. JMHO
... and there are many more opportunities that didn't even exist as short as 5 years ago.
More out of curiousity than anything else, I have two questions if you care to indulge me:
- What is your degree? (i.e., is it in a marketable field?)
- Have you approached the military (which seems to always need talented people in many, many disciplines)?
I’m another who will be working most likely until thay carry the body away because I NEED to,not because I want to deprive some poor young person of the opportunity.
Agreed. Just sad to see some so called young conservatives here at FR think that they are entitled to my pension.
Eggzactly. The over 55 crowd are probably more likely to have learned some useful skilz and have a better work ethic.
Bingo! We have a winner! This has been The Plan for decades and the frog is almost boiled. See Alinsky and Cloward-Piven for why we are on the verge of a liberal fascist police state.
Dang it, so many conflicts and not enough getting along with all of this hope and change being thrown around.....
We have minorities vs whites, then anything Christian is terrifying and now add Jews to the mix but muslim is good as long as you keep your head about you.
Illegals good, legals & American-born bad and please do not ignore the war between homosexuals vs "breeders".
In language, English bad vs Spanish good.
American History is taboo including American Culture which is criminal but any other culture is good.
Our brave Military bad, but protesters that would not even sacrifice their cell phone is good.
Welfare Recipient good while any tax payer and worker is bad.
Unborn bad, abortion good.
Work hard for all you have is bad but taking from those that have is good.
People that obey the laws are bad while those that don't are good.
Now we can add the young vs the baby boomers. JC Breckenridge take some time to study history especially Germany prior to WWII. Tell me which side will you find yourself on. Will you be happy when finally the "selfish" baby boomers are placed in the "ovens"? Your Mom and Dad or your Grandparents? and when will it be your turn in the bull eye? Unless you are part of the elite, sadly your turn is coming.
I spent the last four years of my career trying to hire qualified, dependable college graduates all the way from bachelors to masters and PhDs. I had over 33 people working for me when I retired, 1/3 hired in the last 5 years. The goal was to bring in the top 1-2% of academically prepared people and to get them trained to replace the older generation people I had who were going to retire.
My biggest problem with the newest group is that they have been coddled virtually all of their lives. They had to stimulated, praised constantly, etc. just to make them feel like they had a good job. We called them the Millenial Generation. Our company even recently gave a seminar for older managers on how to coddle, praise and reinforce them.
When I had a young engineer complain about the draft in his/her office, the decor, or a scratch on their desk, I found that hard to reconcile with being an 18 year old draftee back in 1968 and what I had to do during the ensuing years.
All I can say is that a job is what YOU make it. And, I can promise you, although you might not think so, good diligent work DOES get rewarded by the higher ups. It may take a while but your performance is not oblivious to those in charge.
No problemo. You have the skill or you don't. This poll may reflect more on the decline on our schools than it does bias in hiring and retaining jobs. What with the conversion to positive reinforcement conditioning therein, so many have an attitude of entitlement to go with their general incompetence that I have little wonder at this statistic. Moreover, were the young truly equivalent in value per dollar, they would be hired preferentially, as they have both lower salaries and healthcare costs.
Or had you considered that?
Really, have a problem with people contributing to a pension or 401k etc. and then expecting something out of it? Well, if they don't get what they were expecting ...then they are going to keep working. How is that double edged sword working out there for you?
Actually the problem for the younger generation is the education system has failed them miserably. They taught you all how to depend on everyone else, they gave you entitlements instead of teaching you how to win and lose, they played with your mind and self-esteem and never taught you the ethics needed to make it in the real world, they took away your American dreams, and instead replaced them with ‘Dreams from My Father.’
Every generation that has gone through a recession has produced American genius and innovation...until this one. Instead we have a younger generation standing around with their hands out thinking they deserve something they did not do the work for. That attitude, that perception is the result of the socialist teachers and drivel they filled your minds with. Your life and society's culture is not going to improve or get better by protests and standing around looking for a financial handout. Your life gets better when you put yourself and your mind to work.
The only obligation that my generation has to you is to ‘save the American Dream,’ and that means saving you from your own self-destruction.
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