I am an economics major and a computer science minor, so I don’t think I picked the wrong major or are working hard at the wrong things. The industries that I want to get into and that I have interned with can now hire individuals that were laid off in 2008. Finance field took a hit.
I am not using it as an excuse- it is a fact that people need to acknowledge. Engineering is great for you, but it wasn’t a field that harmed by the recession. It’s comparing apples and oranges.
I respect your opinion, but you sound very uninformed. The current generation (which is not referred to as the Y generation because we ask “why”) faces A LOT more issues than previous generations and usually as a result of those generations. Older people enjoy stating how they made x amount of money an hour and we make x amount more- but the current minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. The BUYING POWER of that money can easily be determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor. In 1965, the minimum wage was $1.25, which seems very low, until you use the Bureau of Labor to determine that if we had maintained that same minimum wage’s buying power, the current minimum wage would be $9.24. This generation essentially makes a little less than 20% less money at minimum wage jobs. This generation is too young to compare incomes beyond that.
In terms of education, Penn state cost $1400 in 1965, giving it a current buying power of a little over $10,000 for full time, no room and board. Do I have to look up the current tuition or can we agree that it generally costs twice as much to go to college now? Which you have to do, because have you seen what entry level jobs are now? Over 100,000 mailmen “retired” and are not being replaced because post offices are closing down and combining because of the use of technology in communications instead. Factories are automated. Yes, you can get a job that pays less than it did way back when- but there are much less now.
And as for the sweeping generalizations about how lazy and inconsiderate this generation is- I invite you to take a look at the politics that the generation before us are involved in. The recession, which is a big part of the reason that college graduates are not entering into an economy of jobs burgeoning industry, was caused the generation which we are meant to emulate. The war with Iraq was caused by the generation before us. Do you know what our generation has done? We have the most female college graduates of any generation before. We have the most GRADUATES of any generation before. We are more charitable and politically willing to boycott brands that have poor values than boomers (according to a survey by Forbes) and are more environmentally conscious than any generation of the past (Forbes).
Your article literally stated nothing but what you see around yourself followed by your bio which states that you are pampered. Don’t project that on other people. I am 22 and go to school full time, have two jobs and two internships. I graduate in 4 months and no, I am not confident that I will get a decent job.
I am an economics major and a computer science minor, so I don’t think I picked the wrong major or are working hard at the wrong things. The industries that I want to get into and that I have interned with can now hire individuals that were laid off in 2008. Finance field took a hit.
I am not using it as an excuse- it is a fact that people need to acknowledge. Engineering is great for you, but it wasn’t a field that harmed by the recession. It’s comparing apples and oranges.
I respect your opinion, but you sound very uninformed. The current generation (which is not referred to as the Y generation because we ask “why”) faces A LOT more issues than previous generations and usually as a result of those generations. Older people enjoy stating how they made x amount of money an hour and we make x amount more- but the current minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. The BUYING POWER of that money can easily be determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor. In 1965, the minimum wage was $1.25, which seems very low, until you use the Bureau of Labor to determine that if we had maintained that same minimum wage’s buying power, the current minimum wage would be $9.24. This generation essentially makes a little less than 20% less money at minimum wage jobs. This generation is too young to compare incomes beyond that.
In terms of education, Penn state cost $1400 in 1965, giving it a current buying power of a little over $10,000 for full time, no room and board. Do I have to look up the current tuition or can we agree that it generally costs twice as much to go to college now? Which you have to do, because have you seen what entry level jobs are now? Over 100,000 mailmen “retired” and are not being replaced because post offices are closing down and combining because of the use of technology in communications instead. Factories are automated. Yes, you can get a job that pays less than it did way back when- but there are much less now.
And as for the sweeping generalizations about how lazy and inconsiderate this generation is- I invite you to take a look at the politics that the generation before us are involved in. The recession, which is a big part of the reason that college graduates are not entering into an economy of jobs burgeoning industry, was caused the generation which we are meant to emulate. The war with Iraq was caused by the generation before us. Do you know what our generation has done? We have the most female college graduates of any generation before. We have the most GRADUATES of any generation before. We are more charitable and politically willing to boycott brands that have poor values than boomers (according to a survey by Forbes) and are more environmentally conscious than any generation of the past (Forbes).
Your article literally stated nothing but what you see around yourself followed by your bio which states that you are pampered. Don’t project that on other people. I am 22 and go to school full time, have two jobs and two internships. I graduate in 4 months and no, I am not confident that I will get a decent job.