http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_dead_end_kids_AnwaWNOGqsXMuIlGONNX1K

The dead end kids
Young, unemployed and facing tough future
By RICHARD WILNER
Last Updated: 4:45 AM, September 27, 2009

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. -- meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.

And worse, without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, the odds of many of these young adults -- aged 16 to 24, excluding students -- getting a job and moving out of their parents' houses are long. Young workers have been among the hardest hit during the current recession -- in which a total of 9.5 million jobs have been lost.

"It's an extremely dire situation in the short run," said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. "This group won't do as well as their parents unless the jobs situation changes."

Al Angrisani, the former assistant Labor Department secretary under President Reagan, doesn't see a turnaround in the jobs picture for entry-level workers and places the blame squarely on the Obama administration and the construction of its stimulus bill.

"There is no assistance provided for the development of job growth through small businesses, which create 70 percent of the jobs in the country," Angrisani said in an interview last week. "All those [unemployed young people] should be getting hired by small businesses."

There are six million small businesses in the country, those that employ less than 100 people, and a jobs stimulus bill should include tax credits to give incentives to those businesses to hire people, the former Labor official said.

"If each of the businesses hired just one person, we would go a long way in growing ourselves back to where we were before the recession," Angrisani noted.

During previous recessions, in the early '80s, early '90s and after Sept. 11, 2001, unemployment among 16-to-24 year olds never went above 50 percent. Except after 9/11, jobs growth followed within two years.

A much slower recovery is forecast today. Shierholz believes it could take four or five years to ramp up jobs again.

A study from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a government database, said the damage to a new career by a recession can last 15 years. And if young Americans are not working and becoming productive members of society, they are less likely to make major purchases -- from cars to homes -- thus putting the US economy further behind the eight ball.

Angrisani said he believes that Obama's economic team, led by Larry Summers, has a blind spot for small business because no senior member of the team -- dominated by academics and veterans of big business -- has ever started and grown a business.

"The Reagan administration had people who knew of small business," he said.

"They should carve out $100 billion right now and create something like $5,000 to $6,000 job credits that would drive the hiring of young, idled workers by small business."

Angrisani said the stimulus money going to extending unemployment benefits is like a narcotic that is keeping the unemployed content -- but doing little to get them jobs.

Labor Dept. statistics also show that the number of chronically unemployed -- those without a job for 27 weeks or more -- has also hit a post-WWII high.

Most could join the Military. Just an idea.
Or, they can sneak into Mexico and do the jobs Mexicans won't do.

the mexicans aren't going to let any one go that way .its a min. 2 years in prison you take a job down there in devil land .there really a nice people .

Yes, but that doesn't grow the economy (the salaries are paid out of taxes and inflation). That's only a band aid fix. When they get out of the military (assuming they aren't killed), they'll still be unemployed-not to mention they won't have actual job experience to put on their resume.

I see not much hope for them unless we could get production jobs going again. Something that we could make at a price that would make us a world competitor again.
To do that, we'd need to disband Unions that bids the workers out of jobs and makes overseas outsourcing profitable.

Or, recruit them into the Hitler, I mean, Hussein Youth Corp.

Exactly! Free market economics FTW! :)

McDonalds is always hiring

No job experience after serving in the military? You have said some amazing nonsense in the past, but this takes the cake. After 6 years in the military, I left with no specific trade experience, I will grant you; HOWEVER, I left fully qualified to take over management of any office, most general retail stores and grocery outlets. I left with so much public relations and customer service experience it would make you gag.
I literally had the worst job in the military in regards to conversion over to a civilian job; the only thing it qualified me for as a "skilled trade" was management of a dry cleaners (that is in black and white print). But I did so many other every day activities and jobs that the above mentioned skills dont even begin to touch the experience I left with.

The main problem we have in regards to entry level jobs nowadays is the fact that here is no such thing any more. I have seen resteraunts requiring their dishwasher to have an associates or bachelors degree, AND 9 YEARS EXPERIENCE!!! That is outright ridiculous, but it is perfctly legal because it is a "private business". Gas station attendants are required to have their high school diplomas and/or GED's, or they can not be hired.

When the job industry first started requiring diplomas and ged's I was all for it, I will admit this. However, employers have gotten so ridiculous over their requirements for what SHOULD be an entry level position it is not even funny.

What needs to be done is very simply, businesses need to be overlooked, yes I said they need to be overlooked, by some form of overseer; whether that is the public or the government I don't care which. If yuo are running a resteraunt and you require your dishwasher to have 9 years experience and a college DEGREE you are NOT a productive member of society. You are limiting society and you are harming the family.

And insofar as teenagers working while in high school; with the way our economy is now, no person still in high school should be legally allowed to work under any condition other than when proven to be necesary for the family; for example, both parents are disabled and unable to work, thus the 16 year old holds down a part time job to cover the costs of school, and supplement the rest of the house.
There are just too many adult Americans unemployed who need to be out flipping burgers for minimum wage, instead of sitting on their fat arses all day doing nothing except spread dissent about how America is failing.

America is failing, my friends, because AMERICANS ARE TOO DAMN FAT AND LAZY TO GET OUT THERE AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ORDER TO FIX THINGS. I can name off over twenty individuals right now who are facing eviction or already homeless, jobless, and refuse to accept a job at mcdonalds even though it would give them MORE money than they receive off of welfare just by working twenty hours per week.

So, what needs to be done is we, as Americans, need to get up off our arses and VOTE; every last one of us. I am not saying I disagree with the previous elections. I would have voted for President Obama myself, had I not just moved and been ineligable to vote. BUT, nowhere near even a majority of the American citizenry got up and voted for who they thought would be the best choice.
We need, as citizens, to start policing ourselves and following good moral and ethical standards. STOP refusing to allow a 19 year old father and husband/wife to wash dishes because they dont have a degree and are too young to have 9 years experience in something that doesnt need experience in the first place.
We, as American employers, need to stop paying illegal immigrants under the table because it is cheaper, and pay our fellow Americans to do the job instead. AND MY FELLOW aMERICANS, WE NEED TO STOP BEING GREEDY AND SELF CENTERED AND EGOTISTICAL AND TAKE THOSE MINIMUM WAGE JOBS, FOR TWENTY HOURS A WEEK, WORK TWO JOBS IF NEED BE AND START BEING PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE TO OURSELVES, OUR FAMLIES, OUR NEIGHBORS, AND OUR COUNTRY!

Most mcdonalds will not hire you any more unless you are under 25 years of age.

If us peons know all this, I'm sure Hussein knows and they still won't clear out the Illegal. The Liberals and Hussein hate Americans and America.

grrrrrrrrrrr

not factual...

Thank you minimum wage hike!

You're catching on

Mirror Mirror

You're starting to see a repeating pattern around here

I think a lot of it has to be how kids are being treated. My ex's brother is 22 and his mom paid for everything down to giving him a credit card for his gas. it was sad. He just parties every night with no real responsibility. I've seen this in many cases.

That's not true. One man that I know learned heavy equipment in the Army. He's a heavy equipment operator now. Another man that I know learned electrical things in the Army. The Army helped him to go to college. He's an electrical engineer now.

The article mentions kids "aged 16 to 24". My heart isn't breaking if high school kids aren't finding jobs. Their priority should be school.

I agree with this a LOT.

Everyone wants experience, but no one is fukin' willing to GIVE it. They just WANT WANT WANT.

They don't want to develop relationships with their employees anymore. They don't want to teach them things and show them the way. (WHICH IS BETTER, because that employee will do it your way, all the way.. if its how he learned).

My Associate's Degree doesn't do anything for me. Not without experience. Even if I had a Master's, they still want that experience.

I feel like going to college was a fatal mistake of mine. I have a family business, well, we did have one.. and I could've owned such said business had I not went to college to try and do something "better".

College was ********.
I could've been 5 yrs experienced in a trade had it not been for college off/on.

Mingle forums have little bits of information scattered throughout many many threads. The pieces come together to form snapshots of our society in unusual ways.

One thread recently was about how illegals only take jobs that Americans don't want, which isn't true. Not only are the illegals taking over the skilled construction trades, they are taking all the jobs that at one time supplied American youth with part time jobs and job training.

Another thread discussed the events in New Orleans as the current 60,000 illegals rebuild the city. The illegals are plumbers, electricians, equipment operators, foremen, carpenters, etc., in addition to all the labor for all those trades. This form of labor used to be the training ground for skilled jobs using American youth.

This thread asks the question, "Where are the jobs without experience?" and "We have the greatest youth unemployment in decades!"

Many people are oblivious to the damage illegal immigration is doing to our country because is has become "Politically incorrect" to say anything against the illegals.

The problem is much, much deeper. A cash economy has developed where many workers are paid and exist strictly on cash which prevents taxation by both state and federal agencies. My friend, who audits for the state of Texas, said "You wouldn't believe the amount of tax fraud ... as much as 80%". Illegals have set up a whole separate society where sales, income, even phone cards go untaxed.

And yes, much of American youth has been taught that working, "really isn't necessary".