Dear FutureMoneyTrends.com Member,
A new analysis by the Employment Policy Institute shows that unemployment for teens ages 16 to 19 years old who don’t have a high school diploma is more than 50% in some of the largest U.S. cities.
With the exception of the 19 year olds, it is fairly common for the others to not have a diploma at the time of the study, which was in the spring of 2014. What is startling is the 50% unemployment rate compared to about a 20% rate as recently as 2009. Remember, only those looking for work who don’t have a job are considered unemployed.
FutureMoneyTrends.com sees the destruction of America’s middle class as one of the top trends of the next 15 to 20 years. Likely affecting the jump in unemployment is a rise in the minimum wage, Obamacare, and a real unemployment closer to 20% for the rest of the labor force.
We are aware of the official rate, however, the government openly manipulates this number. Private research by both Gallup and ShadowStats.com puts the real unemployment number just over 20%. This includes workers who have given up looking for work or are underemployed in temporary positions.
As with everything they touch, the government is about to really hurt the youth with more aid and government help. In Seattle, the City Council voted last week to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour! Currently their city has a youth unemployment of 31.4%, we can expect this number to rise dramatically over the coming months.
To those not in the labor force, the kids who have opted in to college, it’s not looking bright for them either. After spending 5 years on average in school to get a 4 year degree, not only will they be starting life with $40,000 of debt, nearly half of them will be getting hired for jobs that don’t even require a degree. Talk about taking the long way…
These 2014 grads are getting a 5 year late start in life in order to become a highly educated waiter/waitress. Nothing wrong with being a waiter/waitress, but the debt and 5 years of school seems a bit misguided. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 44% now work in jobs that don’t require a degree and 20% of recent college grads work for low-wage jobs, meaning they are paid LESS than $25,000 a year!
What all of these studies fail to show is the real cost of college, not only in lost opportunity, but who wants to go through life with such a large debt obligation? Like the housing bubble of 2008, I can confidently predict that the college bubble will soon burst. College debt levels are now higher than credit card debt, this is truly amazing and a very sad state for our young people.
Many of us over the past few weeks have been to graduations, before someone you know signs up for a lifetime of debt, please sign-up for our Smart Money Membership and download our Extra Income Ideas. In total we have about 20 ways to increase income, however, you can just as easily replace the Extra Income Report title with the “20 easy alternatives to college.”
Being unemployed or underemployed while young can have long term demographic changes. The youth in America are likely to get married later in life, delaying children, home buying, and saving.
Look for further updates on this trend next month in a new documentary that will focus on the real unemployment in this country.
Have a Prosperous Week!
Daniel Ameduri
President, FutureMoneyTrends.com
