Barelry just over 1/2 of young adults are working.

[powderman]

Fewer young adults hold jobs than ever beforeBy Tami Luhby @CNNMoney February 9, 2012: 5:30 AM    Young adults with jobs have hit a record low.  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The share of young adults with jobs has hit its lowest level since the government started keeping records just after World War II.
By the end of 2011, only 54.3% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 were employed, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. And the gap in employment between the young and all working-age adults is roughly 15 percentage points -- the widest on record.
    The Great Recession hurt the young more than most other age groups. Their employment decline has been steeper and their median weekly earnings fell by 6%, while holding steady for others, Pew found.
Only part of this can be explained by the growth in college attendance. While a greater share of 18- to 24-year-olds are in school than ever before, the employment rate has fallen regardless of enrollment.
For those in college, only 40.7% had jobs last year, down from 47.6% in 2007. And the employment rate for young adults not in school dropped to 65%, from 73.2% in 2007.
  0:00 / 2:19   The jobless rate for 18- to 24-year-olds was 16.3% last year, compared to 8.8% for the overall population.
The weak job market has altered young adults' lives and aspirations, the report found. It backs up earlier studies showing that young adults have had to delay major life decisions.
Nearly half of 18- to 34-year-olds say they've taken a job they didn't want just to pay the bills, while another quarter have accepted unpaid work in order to gain experience. Nearly a third postponed getting married or having a baby. One in four moved back home with their parents after living on their own.
But the young have maintained their optimism. Some 88% of 18- to 34-year-olds say they either have earned enough money now to lead the kind of life they want or expect they will earn enough in the future. Their older compatriots have a much darker view, with 28% of people over the age of 35 saying they will never earn enough.
 

[OLDHandgunner]

So Sad. What's this country coming too??    
 
I talked to my Grandsons HS principal a few weeks ago. He said he was at a conference and after a study they said that 62% of young adults between 18 & 31 years old are not working. And alot of them have learned how to live off the system. That pretty scary.
 
Where are the work ethics & moral values gone that were taught to use by our parents & grandparents?
 
My wife and I did our part. We have 4 great kids and their families. They all have good jobs, own homes and are raising our 10 grandkids the way that makes us proud.
 
Our system is broke. So lets all work together and do our part to fix it. Get out and VOTE for change.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Swift One]

All animals (including us) take the path of least resistance.  You just dont see too many of these young folks these days trying to challenge themselves.  Everything they need is on the internet and the xbox.  I am even seeing a trend of the young men making their girlfirends and wives go out and work while they stay home and vegetate.  Young folks are just lazy these days.

[guzzijohn]

Swift One may be on to something. My step-daughter is 26 and still working her way through college but she has always been employed in one job or another. She always seems to find work with little trouble even though IMHO some of her jobs sucked, but she would stick with them until she obtained something better. Not saying that it is not tough out there but some make it tougher than it needs to be.
GuzziJohn

[Singleshotsam]

A big part of the problem is that a lot of people who should be of retirement age are not retiring.  Poor investments and a large hit in their 401k's taken when the stock market crashed a couple years ago haven't allowed some people the luxury of retirement.
 
No space at the top means no promotions in the middle means no new hiring at the entry level.
 
Combine that with the fact that people my age will never see a cent of the social security tax we pay in and it's not a happy outlook for us. 

[powderman]

Parents today GIVE too much, kids today get too much without earning any of it. Drive by your local hi schl. Look at all the new cars and trucks, mostly given by mommy and daddy, few kids pay for them, 90% are driving better vehicles than I can afford. It's like a right to them. When I was in hs the only ones allowed to drive were those working after school or for drs appts. No reason for these kids to be driving today, RIDE THE BUS. OH NO, not the bus. Talk about cutting dwn on wrecks and saving big time on fuel. Like the guy shooting the computer. She had too much STUFF and earned none of it. Every parent wants their kids to have a good life, maybe better than they had, but work ethic and a sense of responsibility must be taught too. My brother and I saved our allowance, 25 cts a wk, and money earned from a paper rte, cutting grass, and odd jobs around town to buy a new schwinn bicycle. We EARNED it. POWDERMAN. 

[BUGEYE]

the manager at the local budweiser plant said he had several jobs if young people would go to trade school and learn how to do something besides push a pencil.
the paper always has job listing in the plumbing, electrical, mechanic, truck driver and laborer areas.
laziness is rampant.

[Singleshotsam]

the manager at the local budweiser plant said he had several jobs if young people would go to trade school and learn how to do something besides push a pencil.
the paper always has job listing in the plumbing, electrical, mechanic, truck driver and laborer areas.
laziness is rampant.

   I agree with you that laziness is rampant at all age levels.  That much is obvious.  Trade school is a viable option and one in which I took.  Though after getting my certification in HVAC/R I found out that the jobs that were available were either very poor paying or required experience in the field with I had not yet gained.  Working for pennies was not an option for a guy just married with a new baby to feed.   So I quit the HVAC industry and got a job at the local Peterbilt dealership.  Got good benefits and OJT as well as taking several classes to add to my resume.  Now I'm working as an IT Tech. at a large hardware distribution center closer to my house.  I'm making more money than I would have been if I had stayed in the HVAC industry locally and with much much better benefits for my family.  I have the opprotunity for the company to pay for a College degree and I'm going to take it.     So in the long run Trade School did little to help me out.  But it was a start.

[Gary G]

With a small and limited government everyone who is able can work.


You are seeing the result of a top down centrally planned economy.

[BUGEYE]

SSS, you did what you had to do and that's the main thing.

[Singleshotsam]

 

SSS, you did what you had to do and that's the main thing.

   And believe me.  So are many many other people my age.  In fact.  Most people I know are trying pretty hard right now.  It's a tough spot to be in.