Young Adults See Their Pay Decline

Once again we come across disturbing information concerning our younger generation.  Already saddled with an average of $25k in college debt discussed countless times here [College Does Pay Off But Its no Free Ride], [Is College Still Path to Success], [What's Your Kid Getting From college] now comes data that young people are bearing the brunt of high unemployment and downward wage pressures.


High structural unemployment has a cyclical affect upon generations.  Older people stay in the workforce longer out of fears or necessity which cause less hiring of new typically younger people.  Companies don't typically cut salaries of those current workers but may try to push wages down for new hires especially in tight job markets such as the one we have currently been in.


No matter what way you slice it looks and feels that younger people face an array of challenges in getting not only their careers but financial lives in order.


Via the WSJ article here

• In data compiled for a coming report, the Economic Policy Institute, a center-left think tank in Washington, found that the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates aged 23 to 29 dropped 11% over the past decade to $21.68 in 2011. For female college graduates of the same age, the average wage is down 7.6% to $18.80. 
• "New college graduates have been losing ground for 10 years," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the institute, which derived the figures from regular government wage surveys. The drop in average wages for young adults is in contrast to U.S. government figures showing that average inflation-adjusted hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers of all ages and education levels are up 3% from a decade ago. 

 

• Young people are having to be more flexible. Eric Probola, who got a bachelor's degree in global cultural studies from Point Park University in Pittsburgh in 2010, accepted an administrative assistant's job at a nonprofit there for less than $30,000 a year. He aims to build up savings and gain experience before seeking a higher-level job, perhaps in Washington. 
• "Students are realizing that they might need to take a stepping-stone job as opposed to that dream job," said Amy Bittner, a career counselor at Point Park who advised Mr. Probola. 
• For the entire working population, average hourly wages have risen modestly over the past 10 years. But that is partly because many of the lowest-paid workers have lost their jobs and are no longer included in the average. "People who normally make below-average wages are not working," said Bart Hobijn, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. "That raises the average wage."