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News & ArtsFriday, September 28, 2012
Politics / News Report Confirms That Young Adults in Washington State Are Fucked
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Nearly one in seven adults young adults—between the ages of 18 and 34—in Washington State is unemployed, roughly one-quarter of us live in poverty, and those that are employed struggle with stagnant wages, mounting tuition costs, and reduced job support and access to health care, according to a new report released by the Washington State Budget and Policy Center. While this isn't particularly surprising news, it bears repeating: We are young and fucked—people of color predictably more so—and we'll continue to be fucked, even as we age, unless the state takes drastic action. (And, PSSSST: The state won't take action unless young adults bitch and VOTE and bitch some more.)
"It is crucial that policymakers start making the investments in education, health care, economic security and other supports that can help them recover and that will lay the groundwork for the state’s future prosperity," the report finds. "We must invest in 18- to 34-year olds just entering or trying to regain their footing in our slowly-recovering economy."
An example, in graph form:
- Washington State Budget and Policy Center
From the report: "Wages for Washington state’s young adults tell two very different stories. For young men, annual wages (adjusted for inflation) have declined by more than 5 percent over the past 30 years. Young women, on the other hand, have seen a 30 percent increase, thanks in large part to dramatic rise in the number of hours they work and their rising education levels. Nonetheless, women who work full time earn approximately 76 percent what men earn. Even after accounting for education, the “wage gap” persists in every industry in the state."
Go read the whole depressing thing.
1
Well, stagnant if you're male.
(kidding! it'll be good when those lines are even, better when they're both growing)
(kidding! it'll be good when those lines are even, better when they're both growing)
2
Helps if you show it by urban/rural and by county too.
This is the dream vision of Amerika: A permanent underclass providing slave labor to the ultra-rich Robber Barons of our Age.
Oh, did I mention my S&P 500 stocks are at record highs? The usual 50:50 Capital:Labor split is about 95:5 right now.
This is the dream vision of Amerika: A permanent underclass providing slave labor to the ultra-rich Robber Barons of our Age.
Oh, did I mention my S&P 500 stocks are at record highs? The usual 50:50 Capital:Labor split is about 95:5 right now.
3
If Republicans had half a brain among them, they'd realize that doing something about all this is better for them than their current strategy of not giving a fuck. Right now, they're on track to turn young people into lifelong Dems like much of the the WWII generation. And if the Republicans actually offered a solution or two, Dems would have to come up with something bolder than the piecemeal stuff they're offering now. But most likely the GOP will keep writing off the youth vote without even trying while Democrats coast on our support on social issues with no real plan to heal our economic ills.
4
Terrible,
now how to fix this;
1; Unionize
2: Forgive all outstanding student loans
3: make higher education free
4: Expand the Jones Act
5: Fix the infrastructure
6: lower the sales tax
7: Create a progressive income tax
8: Socialized Medicine
9: Deport Tim Eyemen.
10: Buy local
The above list is by no means complete, but it would be a good start
now how to fix this;
1; Unionize
2: Forgive all outstanding student loans
3: make higher education free
4: Expand the Jones Act
5: Fix the infrastructure
6: lower the sales tax
7: Create a progressive income tax
8: Socialized Medicine
9: Deport Tim Eyemen.
10: Buy local
The above list is by no means complete, but it would be a good start
5
Generation X grew up in a time when the elderly were revered and now are growing old in a time when the priority is given to the young. This blog post is a little more evidence of that. The current 18 to 35 yr. old population will be okay; the crisis will eventually end and this group will be the next great beneficiary of better economic times. If a group is to be pitied, pity Generation X.
6
Read Robert Reich's book Aftershock. The real solution is what Republicans are afraid of and even Democrats don't talk about: redistribution. Tax the rich and fund job-building social programs. It's how we built a middle class in the first place.
And fundamentally, without a middle class our entire economy is fucked.
And fundamentally, without a middle class our entire economy is fucked.
7
Everybody's fucked these days unless you have cash reserves. Most people my age can't even find a low-wage job. They take one look at you - gray hair and all - and then look at all the 28 year-old applicants and say, "We don't think you'd be the right fit." They're way too smart to mention age as a factor. They have hundreds of legal excuses at their fingertips for why you aren't getting the job and then you check out the workforce and see no one over 45. But if you mention this, you get branded as a troublemaker.
Don't mean to turn this into a war of the generations. It's a shame that all us have big trouble finding work. Opportunities are very rare. And it's really troubling that younger workers have to accept low-paying jobs without the promise of one day getting promotions and significant pay raises. I'm sorry young people have to face that kind of future.
It wasn't easy with my generation either unless you had connections, but I think it's probably worse now.
Don't mean to turn this into a war of the generations. It's a shame that all us have big trouble finding work. Opportunities are very rare. And it's really troubling that younger workers have to accept low-paying jobs without the promise of one day getting promotions and significant pay raises. I'm sorry young people have to face that kind of future.
It wasn't easy with my generation either unless you had connections, but I think it's probably worse now.
10
We should increase taxes on the wealthy and increase the minimum wage some more! That way the employed have higher income and the increased taxes can be used for job creation through works projects and grants. Fingers crossed further increasing the minimum wage doesn't further drive down small business hiring or that the increased taxes aren't passed down to the already hurting consumers.
Nope, I'm still for the taxes and minimum wage hikes!
Nope, I'm still for the taxes and minimum wage hikes!
11
You realize this says that wages for 25-34 year old men and women have outperformed inflation for the last twenty years, right? That's what "(2010 dollars)" means. And that the gender gap has been shrinking for the last thirty years?
12
I feel very safe in betting that the Roadkill Caucus will NEVER do anything that could remotely be considered "take drastic action," and that faction of the Democrats seems unlikely to go away, or cease to be a crucial part of any Democratic majority.
Unless by drastic action you mean something like "seize state pensions funds to pay for roads." If they joined Republicans to steal my PERS2 pension and stave off Eyman-ruptcy for a biennium, that would not actually surprise me.
Unless by drastic action you mean something like "seize state pensions funds to pay for roads." If they joined Republicans to steal my PERS2 pension and stave off Eyman-ruptcy for a biennium, that would not actually surprise me.
13
Yes. Young people are screwed.
And I'm sure it helps wages to remain stagnant because businesses, just like The Stranger, continue to have UNPAID INTERNSHIPS that devalue the labor of young people and insure that only rich punks with rich parents can enter the professional classes.
So, sorry Cienna, you guys at The Stranger complaining about wage stagnation are a bunch of total fucking hypocrites and are part of the problem.
Of course this below the fold at 5pm on Friday so nobody will see it.
And I'm sure it helps wages to remain stagnant because businesses, just like The Stranger, continue to have UNPAID INTERNSHIPS that devalue the labor of young people and insure that only rich punks with rich parents can enter the professional classes.
So, sorry Cienna, you guys at The Stranger complaining about wage stagnation are a bunch of total fucking hypocrites and are part of the problem.
Of course this below the fold at 5pm on Friday so nobody will see it.
14
Socialism, in it's various forms, killed 100+ million people in the 20th Century. All the bullshit proposed by the previous posters brings back that failure - as if it was viable. Yes, capitalism sucks, but you know what - it's still the best system ever developed for advancing civilization.
I run a small business, I'm not hiring until Obama is out of office because I can't be sure I won't get screwed by government fiat. You can't make me hire people, so stop bitching about jobs unless you're willing to denounce that dumbass motherfucker Obama and vote for Romney or Johnson or Stein.
I run a small business, I'm not hiring until Obama is out of office because I can't be sure I won't get screwed by government fiat. You can't make me hire people, so stop bitching about jobs unless you're willing to denounce that dumbass motherfucker Obama and vote for Romney or Johnson or Stein.
15
@1, 11, I just noticed that one of my draft paragraphs--the one explaining the graph--didn't make it into the post. It's in there now, and I don't know what you're talking about with gender gaps, @11, but the study clearly illustrates that the wage gap between men and women still exists "in every industry in the state."
16
@11: It's entirely possible that the gender gap here has been shrinking because fewer families can function on a single income, so more women are joining the workforce full-time than they did 30 years ago.
I'm kind of pleased that for once in my life I'm making ever-so-slightly more than the median income for a woman. Woo!
I'm kind of pleased that for once in my life I'm making ever-so-slightly more than the median income for a woman. Woo!
17
@14 you sound like an awesome boss. Too bad about Obama, I'd love to work for someone like you.
So, ah, exactly what is your line of business?
So, ah, exactly what is your line of business?
18
@14 - That's odd. Most businesses make decide not to hire people because doing so won't make them more money. But you are not hiring out of sheer vengeance.
Well, at least you are putting your money where your mouth is. Gotta respect that.
Well, at least you are putting your money where your mouth is. Gotta respect that.
19
I really want to feel sorry for "young people", but they won't stop calling me names so my sympathy often evaporates.
20
This is a really stupid graph. 29-year-olds didn't make a ton of money in 1980, and 29-year-olds don't make a ton of money now. That's not "stagnant wages", that's being young and inexperienced in the workforce.
21
@18 Have you seen the assfucking that Obamacare does to small business? Fail in any one of 13 different areas and you can be fined out of business. My accountant shuddered in horror after attending a seminar on the effects of the law.
@17 Industrial Automation - Building robots, control systems, power systems, and assorted other high tech whiz bang stuff for those dirty ol' nasty capitalists.
@17 Industrial Automation - Building robots, control systems, power systems, and assorted other high tech whiz bang stuff for those dirty ol' nasty capitalists.
22
Also, a 25-year-old making $30,000 and a 34-year-old making $50,000 equates to a $40,000 average for 25-34 year olds. Those aren't terrible wages for those ages. And, again, do not indicate "stagnant wages" for young adults.
23
Forbes disagrees with Delbert. Small business will mostly benefit.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2…
24
So, men are making less than they did in 1980, but more than they did in 1990 and 2000.
While women are making more now than ever, while steadily decreasing the gender gap.
I don't see how this can be interpreted with pessimism. If that report is depressing, it requires a lot of help from the reader.
While women are making more now than ever, while steadily decreasing the gender gap.
I don't see how this can be interpreted with pessimism. If that report is depressing, it requires a lot of help from the reader.
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