Labor & Employment Law

?The Kids Aren?t Alright?: Young Workers Hit Hard in Bad Economy

By Tula Connell

We all know the nation’s jobless rate?with more than 16 million U.S. workers unemployed?is really, really bad. In fact, overall unemployment increased by 4.7 percentage points from December 2007, when the recession began. Yet the situation is even worse for young workers, worsening by more than 7.4 points since the recession’s onset.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a report today on the severe economic difficulties facing young workers, who now account for 26.4 percent of unemployed workers, even though they make up 13.5 percent of the overall labor force.

As “The Kids Aren’t Alright” points out:

Young men have an unemployment rate 7.5 points higher than that of young women. Young black workers face an unemployment rate of 32.5 percent, compared with 15.2 percent for young white workers. Among young Hispanic workers, the unemployment rate has more than doubled since the recession began, from 11 percent in December 2007 to 24.2 percent in January 2010.      

“The Kids Aren’t Alright“ also describes the unique challenges facing jobless young workers, those between the ages of 16 and 24. With no prior work history, many lack a safety net of personal savings and do not qualify for unemployment insurance. Workers under age 35 also have more debt, relative to assets, than any other age group.

They may be forced to take jobs at wages that do not match their skill levels. Past research has shown how such skill mismatches can lead to lower lifetime earnings for workers.

Speaking at a forum on labor last night at Georgetown University, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler discussed the plight of young workers.

Young people are disenfranchised. They graduate and they have no jobs, let alone jobs with benefits.

In September, the AFL-CIO and Working America released a report on young workers that found only 31 percent say they make enough money to cover their bills and put some money aside?22 percentage points fewer than when we conducted a similar survey in 1999. “Young Workers: A Lost Decade” also found two in five young workers, those under age 35, have had to delay further education or professional development due to financial worries and more than one in three young workers are currently living at home with their parents.

Shuler described the AFL-CIO’s outreach effort among young workers, which includes a series of regional forums for young workers to express their concerns and share how the union movement can best connect with them. The forums are building toward an AFL-CIO National Youth Summit here in Washington, D.C., in June. Last night’s event, sponsored by the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, included a large audience of students and young workers interested in the labor movement?the tip of the iceberg of the next generation that the union movement needs to reach out to and find ways to connect with before they become the Lost Gen.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).