A Hidden Failure of Our Society: Loss Opportunities of The Young

One of the great failures of the recession has been the creation of a cohort of people that are doomed to a lifetime of lost opportunities.  Failures of the financial sector, the loose policies that caused the housing market, and the reluctance of Congress to address this problem through sound fiscal policies have left about a million people age 16-24 who are neither enrolled in school nor employed.  Wandering in a political and fiscal “limbo” where, most likely, none of them will ever recover.  This is the loss of opportunities I see in many young people; sons and daughters of friends, nephews and nieces, a large portion of that generation and we are pulling the “rug” from under their feet!

So, who are the unemployed? More than half of unemployed workers (53.7%) are age 25-54. But another  30 % are under age 25 (see chart below).   The large decline in employment among young people in the last 5 years, means that there has been a large increase in the number of young people who are neither enrolled in school nor employed.  This is probably because people have either been forced to drop out of school, or never enter, either because a they could not afford it due to lack of work or because their parents were unable to help them pay for school due to their own income or wealth losses during the recession and the result of lower paying jobs or lack of full employment.  In either case, this is a terrible loss.

Unfortunately, many of these young people are not aware that their futures are being constrained.  Some of them have given up or never had a chance to chase their interest or the opportunity they saw in front of them.  If a mind is a terrible thing to waste, what does that say about having them waste the opportunity of their lifetime?

Source: H Shierholz Economic Policy Institute