Wednesday, November 20, 2013
"Why young people are saying 'no' to the workforce"
http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/22/news/economy/young-workforce-delay/index.html?iid=SF_BN_River
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is showing statistics of an all time low of people aged 20 to 34 in the work force. Less than 78% of people this age are working or looking for work. According to CNN that's "down from the peak of 83% in 2000, and the lowest since the 1970s." Many businesses have a "last-in first-out" policy for newer, younger workers. This is hard on young people who are looking for jobs. The generalized reason for this unfortunate all time low is obviously the current state of our economy. However, this isn't the only reason for the low percentage. It used to be hard to achieve middle class income level with a high school diploma, in today's world it's getting more difficult to achieve middle class with a 4 year bachelors degree. What this means is young adults are staying in school longer which is the other reason for the low percentage.
I personally think this could be potentially a positive outcome. If you think about it, if more kids are spending more time in school, that would account for an overall long run benefit. I also like the idea that more people are going into college so colleges will be more competitive when accepting students which would make kids work harder to get into a decent school which one then lead to another long run benefit of an overall more proficient nation possibly? I know that sounds a little crazy but it adds up. I also read that colleges are constantly upping their tuition fees which i don't like. Colleges are making plenty of money to begin with and i don't see a major reason to raise tuition costs unless there's a legit reason.
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I would agree with your idea about making colleges more competitive but I feel like a decent amount of higher level colleges are going overseas to get their scholars. This really makes me rather angry especially when some of those foreigners are taking the jobs right from under the nose of American's. The tuition costs are starting to become ridiculous. Why is it that it costs $22,000 to go to Penn State but $42,000 to go right across the border to Maryland? It makes no sense to me.
ReplyDeleteState governments want to keep their best scholars in-state for both school and future employment, so they heavily subsidize attendance at state-owned or state-sponsored universities. Avoidance of a "brain drain"
DeleteI think it is a good concept to push students to work hard, go to college and earn a degree, but there may be a lot of those students with potential that are being pushed away purely because of the alarming rise in college prices. It's not that students don't want to go to college, but the prices seem like too much. I'm not really sure that there is a solution that is better than the rest, but a drop in college prices wouldn't hurt.
ReplyDeleteCollege tuition costs are certainly relevant to all of us considering the time period of our lives, and yes, they seem ridiculously high; however, as we saw in our study in class we still found that going to college was worth it in the long run, despite the rising costs. As the cost of everything else in the economy rises so must education.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that it is a positive thing that people are staying in school longer. Those people tend to just rack up debt and are often still struggling to find a job. I think that there needs to be a way for more people to make more money while not going to college because that isn't for everyone. Colleges are taking advantage of the fact that more and more people have to go to college so they are jacking up tuition.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, learning is a good thing and everybody should do it if they get the chance but not if it's crippling our economy ya know? If the reason for the lack of a younger middle class really is because of this then I wouldn't even know what to do. Also, I had no idea about this "last in first out" policy. Does that really not harm a business? You're not giving your workers a chance to prove their worth.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think it's a good thing that people are "struggling to make middle class status with a Bachelor's degree." What is seems like to me is that the "supply" of a 4-year degree has increased so much that it's value has gone done. Now a Bachelor's is becoming not good enough to ensure a position. I think this trend towards needing more and more qualification mainly benefits schools and not necessarily individuals (if they are unable to learn any marketable skills). Also, don't forget that our high school education has been considerably dumbed down from what it has been in US history, and this could account for the shift towards a greater need for a Bachelor's too.
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