Domestic oil/gas production increases that will [hopefully] continue to rise will offset at least some of the lack of manufacturing jobs in both blue-collar and white collar positions. However, those "liberal arts degrees" and other such lame-ass degrees are going to remain useless.

The worse news is there is no light at the end of the tunnel unless relatively recent economic policies and bad economic environments are drastically turned around. As things are in place now, what you see is what you will continue to get as far into the future as you care to look. The 2012 election process, I fear, will end up doing little to correct this. The entire political process is completely broken and out of control and tries to affect too many business and economic aspects out of some morbid need for exponentially expanding power and control by bureaucrats who have found it is easier to make lots of money in government than actually becoming productive and effective in the real world of business/work.

Actually, there was a study that correlated decreased wages to increased benefits (namely the cost of health care).

So if you measure all benefits, people's wages+benefits have been staying the same. Problem is the cost of healthcare is eating into the wage portion.

What a world this has become... in the last 100 years haven't we discovered and utilized enough technologies to at least allow the people to be able to eat. The direction our economy is going is not the right one. Our government continues doing the same things and we continue seeing our food and fuel prices sky rocket. Wheres the change? only one person running for president wants to do anything different and a lot of people call him crazy?! If you ask me continuing what we are doing and expecting different results is crazy.

Ron Paul 2012

One must consider the globalization of the labor force as part of the analysis. When including the many workers China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philipines, Russia, etc it is good that wages have increased at all.

Regarding the fact that women tend to make less than men:

Well, in my job, I'm always required to step in to do any heavy lifting and other physically strenuous activities because I'm a man. This is in addition to doing all the same stuff the women do. So, why shouldn't I earn more, even if I hold the same position/title? If I'm doing more work, I should make more money.

And, this is a phenomenon that occurs pretty much in every job out there--men perform more physically strenuous tasks, thereby risking greater injury, wearing out faster, etc., even if they hold the same positions and titles as their female coworkers. It's only fair to pay them more for this.

This was the plan of corporate America, get rid of 50 and older and hire the younger ones at a lower pay.

How is this news? As if we don't already know this?

Derek-908696: You quite correctly mention the inadequate technological advancement as a factor in our economic problems but then you express support for Ron Paul -- a candidate that would DRASTICALLY cut funding for research.

That doesn't compute.

It's supply and demand. When employers interview 100 applicants for every job why beg?

There are 201.7 million 18-66 year old (working age) Americans according to the 2010 census. In January 2009 67.6 million in this group were not working. In January 2012 74.2 million are not working, an increase of 6.6 million non-working 18-66 year old Americans over the 3 years.

15.7 million were the "measured unemployed 7.8% of January 2009". 16.7 million are the "measured unemployed 8.3% of January 2012", an increase of one million "measured unemployed".

We see there are a net 5.6 million new unemployed not measured in the 8.3% figure.

Yep, spend $100,000 to get a degree and end up making $2/hr more, and they wonder why nobody is buying cars or houses anymore.

It "used" to be... "you get what you pay for"....

"while simultaneously the government continues artificially inflating home prices"

Sorry bud, the banks are the ones that have turned our houses into poker chips, not the government.

The youth "Hoped" for something better. It was a great big media production lie. Look the emperor has no clothes. Now they are left working for spare "Change". Hope they enjoyed the hip vote for Obama scam.

So much for Obama turning things around. We have more people below the poverty level than ever before. More people on food stamps than ever before. Now young adults can't earn a decent wage. Obama-care has forced employers to cut back on wages because the cost of health care is skyrocketing. All part of Obama's plan to make more people dependent on government.

This country is far worse off than we were 3-4 years ago. Bush may have driven us into a ditch, but Obama drove us over a cliff.

Sven - I know you just can't bring yourself to entertain the notion that Obama is doing anything right, but here's a great picture for you:

Bush vs. Obama: Unemployment (January 2012 Jobs Data)

(And this is from a right-wing website!)

CEO - try reading FactCheck.org before you repeat what you hear on Rush Lardbag:

Health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans jumped a startling 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, and Republicans have blamed the federal health care law. But they exaggerate. The law — the bulk of which has yet to be implemented — has caused only about a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in premiums, according to several independent experts. The rest of the 9 percent rise is due to rising health care costs, as usual.

And from the Kaiser Family Foundation:

Critics of the national health reform law passed in 2010 like to blame everything but the weather on “Obamacare,” but regardless of how you feel about the Affordable Care Act, its effect on premiums this year is modest. Most of the law’s provisions don’t go into effect until 2014. The two biggest changes this year allow young adults up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance policies and require some insurance plans to cover preventive services at no cost to patients. These are popular provisions that provide real benefits, and combined they account for about one to two percentage points of this year’s premium increase.

Corporate America is driving down wages for all workers at the same time they're recording record profits and paying out record dividends to the investor class.

With 2 college degrees, I'm making $21k a year GROSS and trying to support kids off it. Don't talk to me about class warfare - my family's already a civilian casualty.

The young also have 40 and 50 or more thousand in student loans, yet they have to maintain a car buy insurance rent and mortgage.. they don't stand a chance.

scott-579755, You call it Supply and Demand. Of course, the laws of supply and demand works only for the lower rung of the ladder in the labor market. It doesn't work for the Executives, though.

Executives pay has been increasing from 15 times the average pay in the firm in 1980 to over 50 times the average pay in the firm in 2010. That's a whopping 3 times in 30 years for these executives.

Read the below article which describes how.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/14/executive-pay-increase-america-ceos?CMP=twt_gu

For executives, their pay has never been about the performance of the company they lead. Why? Because the CEOs stuff the board of directors with their cronies who are supposed to be looking out for the Shareholders, but always side with the CEOs. There is no shareholder say in the CEO pay for most of the publicly traded companies in the USA.

On the contrary, with regards to the lower and middle end of the labor markets, in the past 20 years american companies have been shipping jobs abroad (axing the workers at home) and bringing in more and more H1B and L1B foreign workers, thereby completely decimating the local labor markets. Double whammy situation for American born workers, skilled people, IT staff, doctors, architects, engineers, designers, etc. One of the many ways to stop the bleeding that we have on the labor market is to completely stop the H1B visa and the green card programs. We need to take care of Americans who are already in America, before we take care of others. Then only we have chance the American workers pay can move upwards and they can begin to have a decent life.

THE REASON IS:

Now young people have to compete with 8-million illegal aliens who haven't been deported for those exact same jobs.

The difference is; those illegal aliens will offer to work for less; that bumps citizens out of those jobs.

Of greater concern, the percentage of employed native-born without a high school degree fell from 53 to 48 percent in the last five years.

African Americans have particularly been affected. A September 2006 National Bureau of Economic Research paper found that immigration accounted for about a third of the decline in the employment rate of the least-educated African American men over the last few decades.

S. Texan: FYI, most of the folks with Liberal Arts degrees have 2-year degrees and got them because they graduated from the standard GE program at a community college in preparation for upper division. All A.A.'s at my college were Liberal Arts. Most never go to that upper division level due to cost.

I myself, couldn't afford to continue my education, entered the workforce, and have never been able to afford a 4-year college education since. I did have a hard-working and successful career in business though..with a Liberal Arts degree.

I plan to continue my education this year, with Federal loans. I'm thinking about History, so I can teach our kids. We need teachers.

And Willing Sniper: I live in a town with lots of poor Mexicans. No white kids I know want to do any of the jobs they have.

When the country is being flooded with cheap foreign labor ( no matter what color they are); the pay-scales have nowhere to go but down.

That's just market rate, and the reason for a falling market rate payscale.

“Paychecks for young adults getting slimmer”

Experience and loyalty are one of the most important traits an employee can offer to the business. It takes years to acquire and the pay should reflect it. The fact that pay rates of the younger ones is / may be lower directly relates to these traits.

Yakfitguy, I keep hearing how Americans don't want to do work that Mexicans are willing to do. I know first hand that is a bunch of crap since I've done many of these jobs myself and have worked along other citizens doing the same thing. The list of jobs Americans won't do seems to be ever expanding and wages seem to be ever decreasing. Funny how 20 years ago Americans weren't willing to pick produce (which is bunk because I've done it) and now supposedly we won't work do now includes construction, meat packing, landscaping which all used to be good paying jobs at one time. This won't stop until we are on the same level as a third world country.

Jez-Az, insurance is only offered to SOME full-time workers and those workers typically pay quite a bit for it. When I entered the workforce in the early 70s, insurance came with the job and I didn't have to pay a dime. AND it was GREAT insurance!!! Full-time work is pretty hard to come by for anyone who doesn't have a college education, so high-school grads are working more than one job and have very little hope of decent raises. Speaks to the advantages of education...

The author of this article says:

"the average wage for all these young adults, no matter education level, is about $15 an hour."

I don't know where that statistic comes from, but that just isn't so at all. I know of college grads working in their career field, who are barely making $10 per hour. And this is not in the customer service sector either. On the other side of salary wages, you do not see the salaries going down among the wealthy elite. Instead they go up along with more benefits and bonuses. And the sad part about it is that they are nowhere worth the income paid to them (as-far-as contribution to our society). Also, they appear to be even more corrupt, without a conscience, or concern for others, etc. Overall the salaries among the non-elite are well below par for covering the inflation even though the “the power to be” says inflation has been low. I guess the "powers to be" just don’t buy gas or food. They have their slave servants do it for them. Even worse some could not even pass a basic college exam.

Greed sold America out

Paychecks getting slimmer and the appearance/cost of high-tech 'toys'/cars getting fatter.....

It's called poor choices.

Real American ~ now this is the same 'experts' who said the World is flat, the atom is the smallest particle on earth.....

The joys of the Age of Obama...

The fiscal issue with illegals is NOT that they are taking jobs Americans dont want to do, and work for lower wages. The overlooked elephant in the room is that the illegals can AFFORD to take these jobs that citizens cant because the jobs pay low wages THAT ARE NOT TAXED. The wages end up being MORE than a modest TAXED wage. Illegals dont have social security numbers. They dont get taxed. Under the table. Illegal in all manner. Corporations have been caught trucking illegals in from the border to work in their factories - they get a slap on the wrist, and it continues.

If Americans were offered the same wages without taxation, then they could compete with illegals. If illegals were taxed, they would be taxed right out of these jobs. The most criminal in this situation are the employers who hire the illegals (and it is all over the place, right under our noses) and the regulators that refuse to uphold the laws.

Dont blame the illegals - the real problem is with the employers who encourage this, and do it right under our noses. THEY are the real problem.

G. Bud, could not agree with you more! Greed did sell out this great country and if you think that those that have it are going to want to part with it, ain't happening! I agree that Executive wages are off the charts. Board members get paid and want to stay on the board, and they want to appease the guy, (I actually thought of changing that to person, but it is inaccurate) CEO, so they all decide that we need to pay the most to get the best! What a bunch of baloney. That is one statement that I am tired of. I think the most devastating thing that happened to this country is the greed of the corporations,in the guise of their stakeholders, offshoring jobs. They will get NO respect from me.

So we have young working people who are paying taxes but do not receive any of the benefits, such as health care or enough money to put away for their future. As a nurse, I believe their should be health care for all. People who are handicapped and have never paid a dime for their health care, receive quality care. I do not begrudge them that benefit but I feel "young people" who work two or three jobs, just to get by, deserve health care as well.

My hope is President Obama will initiate health care for all. No matter what your income, everyone should be provided health care. And for you nay-sayers, Social Security is a well run program. Yes it has its flaws but it is basically, a great, government ran program.

So now all of you doubting Thomas' are going to ask, how are we going to pay for Nation Health care? Well for starters, the United States might stop declaring wars based on lies. Also, we could and should encourage healthful life styles and bring back school gym and provide parks and swimming pools for our children. get them out of the house and away from the televisions, iPads and video games. And I know this is an antiquated idea but, how about having school kids walk to school? I did. My parents did. And in the winter too.

My point is, young people not only earn less but their dollars do not go as far. I have had patients who lost their homes because of medical bills, even though both parents worked. It is time we gave our children the wages they deserve and stopped looking at corporate profits. Yes, corporations should be profitable but workers should get a fair wage for a fair days work.

There are a lot of hard working people in the United States but they have no imput into how their company runs. Good ideas are ignored and if I hear the saying, "We have always done it that way", one more time, I am going to scream!

Just chalk this up as another Obama failure. Not only have Obama's policies forced more people into poverty, his policies have made what little money these people have worth even less. Someone should tell Obama you can't keep borrowing 40 cents of every dollar he wants to blow and keep printing money to cover up the first mistake with a second one. Obama has actually widened the gap between the rich and poor and eroded the middle class even further.

how's that nafta working out for ya...bill clinton sucks...

Paychecks for young adults getting slimmer

Welcome to living for today on your dime kids! I would be @!$%#in pissed the hell off

This is what happens when you have parents that were on the dole themselves at an early age. They get selfish...entitled...ignoring the consequence of this fulfillment.

Stop blaming Obama for all your problems. Corporations decide how much they want to pay their employees, not Obama. I am a recent graduate and lets just say I make more than 15 dollars an hour. My sister made more than me when she graduated in 2007. Its corporations that decide how much your skills are worth and how much they should pay for them. So, stop majoring in Art history and start majoring in math, accounting, or something in demand.

The gender pay gap among this group, however, still persists. The hourly wage for college educated men was $21.68 in 2011, compared with $18.80 for women.

In all industries, degree and experience the same, women were paid less than men. See link:

http://www.incontext.indiana.edu/2009/mar-apr/article1.asp

Women's median pay was less than men's in each and every one of the 20 industries and 25 occupation groups surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007.³ Even men working in female-dominated occupations tend to earn more than women working in those same occupations.⁴

http://www.now.org/issues/economic/factsheet.html

A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) examined how the wage gap affects college graduates. Wage disparities kick in shortly after college graduation, when women and men should, absent discrimination, be on a level playing field.

One year after graduating college, women are paid on average only 80 percent of their male counterparts' wages,

and during the next 10 years, women's wages fall even further behind, dropping to only 69 percent of men's earnings ten years after college. According to the AAUW report, even after "[c]ontrolling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors normally associated with pay, college-educated women still earn less than their male peers earn. . . . A large portion of the gender pay gap is not explained by women's choices or characteristics." ⁷

Middle emphasis mine.

After earning a degree and working 10 years in a given industry, women make SIXTY NINE PERCENT OF WHAT MEN ARE PAID FOR THE SAME EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND TIME IN JOB.

What happened to "Equal Pay"?

As for young people's earnings, and hunger, I have two sons who have had to skip many meals to pay their rent. One called me about two weeks ago, from his RESTAURANT JOB, and told me he was throwing up blood. I found out two days later he hadn't eaten in THREE days before that.

But his rent is paid, so he's not homeless. (sarc)

The young women in this town who are my sons' ages are paid 72.5 cents on the dollars my sons are paid.

Our town's poverty rate is 28.4% for 2010.

This is the fault of private business, not politics. Pressure needs to be brought to bear on businesses that underpay, cut hours, shave hours, or don't pay overtime on non-exempt, hourly jobs.

We have a lot of Bible thumper business owners here. I direct them to Colossians 4:1. And shame on them all.

Wages for everyone are lower than they were 10 years ago, compared to the rise in costs of everything. I'm making less now than I was 10 years ago and I'm middle aged. So its not just the young that are making less. For doing more.

Ophelia 13,

Sorry to throw some sarcasm here. I don't know which planet you live in. In this part of the world, in the USA, what you said holds true for only for people in lower and middle rung of the labor markets. For executives (CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, etc.) the pay and bonus has gotten bigger and fatter in the past 30 years.

Ophelia13 is absolutely correct.

Page 5 of the report:

Real median household income was $49,445 in 2010, a 2.3 percentdecline from 2009 (Table 1). Since2007, median household income hasdeclined 6.4 percent (from $52,823)and is 7.1 percent below the medianhousehold income peak ($53,252)that occurred in 1999 (Figure 1 andTables A-1 and A-2).6

http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf

Since raises in current jobs, and starting salaries in new jobs are traditionally based on previous earnings, our young people don't stand a chance in advancing their earnings in their lifetimes the way we could - up until the second Bush II recession.

I disagree - I would consider my family (myself and my husband) middle class and we are both making considerably more than (at least 20% more) we were just two years ago. That said, I'm in the corporate world in communications and he is an engineer, but we are by no means 'elite'

Starlight75...you should look up the difference between statistical and anecdotal evidence.

Tbone - pls point me to a stat that shows that everyone except the elite (and please define what puts someone in this class) is making less. Guess my friends are all anecdotally non-statistics just as I am.

Did you not read the article? The evidence is probably not scientifically accurate (we are talking journalists here), but it is definitely not based on just you and your friends. It is based on a statistical sample...this determined to be representative of the whole. Now, if you and your friends want to be a part of the sample, then you and your well off friends would appear in the data on the far right of the bell curve...probably between 2 and 3 standard deviations from the mean. This would indicate that your anecdotal evidence is not representative of the average experience.

Just the way it is going to be in this country until we begin to manufacture in the US again. Germany outsources very little manufacturing and their pay inequality is not nearly as lopsided as ours. The US is headed towards a two-class economy... those on the management track and those in the service industry. Engineers (including me) will be next in line for decimation. Companies like GE, IBM, Boeing etc. have begun this process by in-sourcing BRIC nation engineers and outsourcing small portions of engineering (MFG, Industrial and civil) to BRIC nations.

Meanwhile executives make ~200 over their rank and file co-workers. In addition, according to a study done by the Roosevelt Institute the top 1% captured 93% of income gains in 2010. How does this benefit the nation as a whole? The most prosperous time in US history for the middle class (+200k/yr now) was from 50's to the 70's when there were heaps of high paying and skill enhancing jobs. The abaility for middle class people to care for and educate their children was unprecedented during these years and look at we accomplished... went to the moon, led the WORLD in auto, airplane and manufacturing tooling, the internet (original DARPA military usage) and made computers that NO other country could get close to. We exported steel, aluminium and goods made from them. Now we are beholden to every other country for these goods.

Sad very very sad that our children will not have the ability to "have better lives" than we do today.

Starlight I make 5% more each year, unfortunately that's not enough to keep up with inflation so technically every year I am having to do with less.

Keep in mind only 3 nations are left with independent banks: N. Korea, Cuba, and Iran. Prior to that Iraq and Afghanistan had independent banks. Take a look a see why the countries with national banks are so quick to invade these independent bank countries.

Its control through dept and we the US as a nation are in some serious debt. Slavery is still prevalent even if its by a different form of shackle. Really take a look as to why every Presidential candidate wants war with Iran but 1 (Ron Paul), and you will see we are headed down a path of destruction.

Tbone - my comment was directed at the previous poster, not the content of the article...hence my 'reply' to that person rather than a new comment on the article. Thanks

Starlight75 and others,

Here is an excellent interview of economic Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman about the current state of the economy.

http://www.playboy.com/magazine/playboy-interview-paul-krugman

When people make generalizations, they are speaking in general! There will always be exceptions. The point the original poster is trying to make is on average! So no, not every non-elite is making less, but enough of them are to allow for the generalization. And by focusing only on the exceptions, people artificially inflate their outlook, and that contributes to the mess.

It's not Supply Side Economics. It's the flood of illegal and legal immigration that is responsible for the lack of jobs, and the decline in wages.

The USA imports thousands of foreign workers into the USA each month, and thousands more come illegally and take jobs after offering to work for less.

That lowers payscales all across the working class.

@Willing.Sniper: Not exactly. The flood of illegal and legal immigration is a direct result of SSE. SSE concentrates the wealth.

Immigration, legal or illegal, did not, I repeat, Did Not, cause the jobs to be outsourced, or cause the decline in wages. Your fellow Americans did that. And, they did it only to increase their wealth at the expense of American prosperity.

While I agree with your comments regarding the ever expanding military budget, I don't think manufacturing is going to solve our problems. Especially in light of the conditions that many Chinese employees work under are conditions that were once acceptable in the U.S.

With the ever increasing role of technology in our manufacturing processes, it becomes evident that manufacturing as a national labor source is more of myth perpetuated by politicians looking for answers about the future by comparing incomparable situations.

By going back to manufacturing, we would need to a. find products that other countries need and b. be able to produce that product for cheaper than what they are currently producing it or getting it produced.

We outsource because manufacturing labor is so much cheaper everywhere else.

Military spending is one of our best sources of revenue and manufacturing need. Even if you look at the top 1% now vs. then, you get a better sense of where the money exists, and the majority of top earners are aligned with investment firms not businesses that provide a product. When we were a manufacturing nation, the top earners were producing raw goods and products for people to buy.

Ideas and productivity create wealth in a economy war does not, it creates poverty and famine.

shhhh...you'll make those soft heads on the right explode...they can't stand hearing about how German workers make more, live longer and healthier and have few of the stresses of American workers...but our worker drones do have their religion and guns to comfort them...

Germany does it with a socialist government. A real one not a boogie man McCarthy era accusation socialist one. They have had national health care mandated insurance since 1941. They do it with a high number of their workers unionized. 26% are union members. By law union members are on corporation boards. German workers are more productive than US workers. That's why VW pays less in the US. German unionized workers are more productive than non unionized US workers. Socialist Germany is keeping Europe afloat. Korea where they have national health care mandated insurance since 1988. Over 10% of Koran workers are union members. Japan does it with national health care single payer since 1938. Japan has a high percentage of union workers. 22% are union workers in Japan. Japan's government has been a center right-liberal party for 54 years. NOT a far right party. 32 out of the 33 of the largest economies have some form of national health care. We are the only one that does not. Union membership has been in decline in the US for years. Now it is about 12%. What they don't have in those three countries is CEOs making thousands of times the average employees wage. In Japan the CEO screws up he resigns in shame. Here he gets a bonus or a golden parachute to leave. Germany, Japan and Korea have our kids walking a post defending them while their kids educate and do a little partying in college. 50K US troops in Germany. 35K US troops in Japan. 28.5 US troops in Korea.

Keep spreading the word....

and b. be able to produce that product for cheaper than what they are currently producing it or getting it produced.

And the reason the Chinese can make things for so much cheaper that here in the US is that they don't have OSHA, EPA, and minimum-wage laws to contend with. If we were to tariff every good coming from China for how much those laws added to the cost, we'd probably find that it was cheaper to just make it here rather than import it.

Germany does it with a population around 1/4 or 25% of the U.S.'s population. Japan does it with a population around 40% of the U.S.'s population. So if we got rid of about half of the people in the country, maybe our jobs would be paying more too and health care would be cheaper. I love the way people compare apples to oranges. North Dakota has a 3.3% unemployment rate, so the obvious answer is to make the WHOLE U.S. do whatever that one state is doing.

I think Thomas Paine-784713 has the right idea

If we were to tariff every good coming from China for how much those laws added to the cost, we'd probably find that it was cheaper to just make it here rather than import it.

The problem is that the US is not going to stand in the way of labor abuses like poor safety, children working, workplace hazards like poisonous environments et al when to take action against this would take the silver spoon out of every mouth of their top funding constituents.

While you whine about hand-severing child labor making Gucci bags and Apple computers, what are the CEO's of these companies doing about it?

CEO: "we do not condone the actions of labor abuses in China"

--> But do they DO anything about it?

ANSWER >> Nothing

As far as the private sector is concerned, they don't mind that it's a race to the bottom as long as there are enough people between them and ground-zero to cushion the impact.

People need to wake up from the fantasy that the private sector does things better.

They don't always...and if it weren't for government representing people, there would be no laws prohibiting abuses of workers, collusion, bait-and-switch, anti-trust/anti-competitive acts, etc etc etc.

People that support Ron Paul do not understand this. Sure, government is full of corrupt idiots and cronies, but who the hell do those idiots and cronies work for and why?

Lack of regulation brought about the monopolistic abuses of Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, JD Rockefeller, etc. Read up on what motivated the creation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the numerous labor and environmental regulatory agencies before one decides that these agencies should be removed.

You also weren't paying $3.50 or more per gallon for gas. Or for all the price increases in anything that takes gas for production/transportation, such as food, electricity, heating/cooling your home, etc. Prices for everyday necessities have skyrocketed since the late '90s.

I'll take $25,000 a year if it means a return to late-'90s prices for everything.

I'd like to be making $25,000 a year, period.

This relates to something my boss and I were talking about last week. He told me how much he made when he first started in the business, and I was shocked at how little it was. Then he started telling me how much things cost at that time...we came to the conclusion that while starting salaries are twice as high (this was quite a while ago) prices are over eight times as high for things like rent, food, utilities, automobiles, fuel for the automobiles. Tuition to work in the field has increased exponentially. Basically inflation in costs of living have far outstripped inflation in wages, so entry-level jobs even at several times his starting wage are simply not enough to live off of.

I'd like a full-time, permanent job. $25,000 sounds wonderful.

And we wonder why these hard working young folks have a problem swallowing Dubya's Tycoon Welfare...

@ Robbie-1584492

Precisely! Why do you think that politicians are always trying to monkey with the figures used in the basket of goods used in the CPI calculation. If people realized that their "inflationary raise" didn't even remotely cover the actual rate of inflation, people would drastically change their spending and buying patterns.

If you're a country whose GDP is largely based upon the ebb and flow of your people spending like there's no tomorrow, you don't want to let them see the writing on the wall.

Why do you think the US works so hard to keep the interests rates as low as possible for as long as possible.

If it was worth more to save than it was to spend, banks would have to compete for deposits, investment wouldn't be as profitable as production and the US government wouldn't have a tiny rate to lean against as it creates scores of new debt at such low yields.

It's a great scheme when you're on the winning side.

Forget About taxes, Social security, workmans comp, and health insurance? I make 16 an hour and have had my hours cut. My rent is $700 a month for a cracker box house and my car payment is 300 (had to buy used when my engine in my 200K jeep failed) Plus insurance and utilities. When its all said and done I have $200 for gas and food for one month. The wealthy have won.

No kidding!!! I feel like I'm never going to be able to move out of my parents home and actually pay off my loans at this rate. My boyfriend of 4 years and I would love to get married and start a family in the next couple of years, but with the way things are now, I can't even see that happening in ten years! American Dream, ha! The new dream is to be able to pay for something, in full, in cash, be mostly debt free, and to not live with a family member of any kind. You definitely can't count on us Millennials to help improve the economy because we can't afford anything!

Shame on mommy and daddy for not have a bit of college savings set back.

Shame on mommy and daddy for not have a bit of college savings set back.

Whose parents save 100 grand (per kid)? Shouldn't you be mad at the schools and industry for failing to create worthwhile opportunities for an entire generation?

@ kattlekween

Care to comment on the price of college tuition back when the Baby Boomers went to school? Care to comment on the average number of units they needed to graduate compared to today? Care to comment on the rate that schools are subsidized by the government today compared to yesteryear? Care to comment on the rate that colleges have increased their tuition against inflation?

Baby Boomers could afford to work their way through school almost/completely debt free because the cost of tuition was significantly less than it is today, even adjusted for inflation.

Add to this the fact that colleges have become increasingly top-heavy and have basically been defrauding the taxpayer by increasing the size of the curriculum in response to the taxpayer subsidized demand.

The fact that a college can charge ~$50K for a liberal arts or women's studies degree shows a serious disconnect from the market-value of that degree considering that the graduate will hardly find work (relevant to that degree) to pay for all of that expensive schooling.

Yeah, GOP'ers like Clinton with his trade agreements with the Chinese... they're not part of this, are they? The status of China has nothing to do with lower American wages, do they?

Keep your eyes on both hands, people. This isn't as cut and dry as some on the Vine would make it out to be.

Changing the subject doesnt work anymore. That why we're likely to have a GOP-proof government next year!

And then the real demise of the U.S. will begin in earnest.

Ummm...east coast isn't changing the subject.

Just pointing out that this problem is more complex and the actors far more varied that simply drawing a line in the sand and pointing across at other people exclaiming that it's their fault is not going to bring a working solution.

The problem is that the system for putting politicians in office requires an increasingly vast fortune and network of support to accomplish. Even on the local level, there are gerrymandered districts and entrenched interests. The degree of difficulty increases exponentially as one moves further beyond the city level.

At this point, voting only changes which idiots get into power and which multinational corporations are their handlers. Last 8 years Haliburton, Koch Industries and Goldman Sachs were in charge; last 4 years GE and Goldman Sachs were in charge.

Next 4 years, It will probably be the same as last for years...but I hear Koch industries and Haliburton are working on a new candidate!

The new average raise is anywhere between 0 and -5%! Many have seen pay cuts year after year and the rest (like my company) haven't seen any sort of annual/merit raise for the past 3 years.

I was given an 8% increase in Salary and a very healthy bonus in both the last two years. However Im 59 soon to be 60 and my kids are grown and I work many hours. This has made me appealing to my employer, its all about work ethic. We have a group of Asians who are contractors and all are here on work visas they out work american workers by far. I can make a call to have one of them paged and I get a response in 15 minutes. I make the same call for a US worker and Im lucky to get a call the same day. Its worse in Europe. Once 4pm rolls around they are gone and unreachable.

The Asians you refer to do not have families, just like you don't have your children around, so you don't have their troublesome band concerts and useless parent teacher conferences and to-hell-with their birthdays celebrations, and you are available for work 24/7.

Yep, it's all about work ethic and dropping everything for the job.

I have a friend who works with Indian contractors. They know that they can be shipped back at a moment's notice.

Paul - ADP is reporting more jobs. Now the quality of those jobs can't be measured for some reason but yep - there are jobs a plenty. For crap wages and no bennies.

But we have to give the King four more years. So Spin Away MSNBC and oh, why do you shut down the thread after your people post their BS? If you have to stoop to censorship Obama is in bigger trouble than I though.

But we have to give the King four more years.

Cry about it all you want, he is still the best guy for the job. I wish there was someone better but he is still 10x better than any of the clowns on the right.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - here I am stuck in the middle with you ;)

Capitalism at its finest :)

Baby boomers DID NOT cause the problem... greedy people did. They doubled the amount paid into SS in the 1980 s. The boomers are not the problem...

GREEDY BIG BUSINESS IS THE PROBLEM

they set the pay rate.. and have destroyed millions of union jobs

AND SS DOES NOT ADD TO THE NATIONAL DEBT

ellywhite2020 --ARGH! EARWORM!

Hannah-2721721

Baby boomers DID NOT cause the problem

Agreed. The problem is that our country has been hijacked by narrow private interests that are of the "F-you I got mine" mentality.

These are the same types of people whose great grandchildren were Anne Boleyn and the Romanovs (e.g. generations of abuse and neglect and corrupting a system for personal gain).

Eventually this will all come to a head, and it won't matter how tall their walls, no matter how well staffed their security, no matter how many politicians they have in their pocket.

...One day, they, or their children, or their grand children will be staring down from their window at the angry masses and wonder why those wretched people without bread don't eat cake.

Dean25 represents the disillusioned older generation that still view all 20 somethings as still teenagers.

Unable to comprehend the reality of the work force, he trolls comment boards about the labor situation facing the country calling Americas youth unkempt and under skilled.

Unbeknownst to Dean, while he's been sleeping, the United states has become better educated than ever, producing more college graduates than ever all while state budgets have universally scaled back spending per capita for primary and secondary education because of champions of conservatism see little value in educating the youth because they're just going to come out unkempt and under skilled anyways.

Universities have taken on this burden by passing the bill onto the students and parents, thus taking away potential wage gains, investment opportunities, and the ever valued purchasing potential of these 20 somethings for the course of 10 years, further retarding economic growth.

In an odd twist of events, his lack of comprehension about the younger labor force, their lack of purchasing power due to decreased wages, and lack of tax input leaves him confused on why his social security check shrinks, his portfolio stagnates, and why his home value, which was artificially inflated, continues to fall.

Nope, these kids are just unkempt and under skilled.

Thanks for such a well thought out argument with out resorting to childish name calling and foul language. You have put together such a great though argument which truly shows your level of though. Good job Mob.

And what job skills does someone posess, whom is just starting out working have??

How old are you?

And what job skills does someone posess, whom is just starting out working have??

I am in my late 20's and am thoroughly impressed with the technological knowledge of newly hired employees in their early 20's. I have always thought of myself as having a pretty good understanding of technology and that I adapt rather quickly to new technologies. But these new hires have MUCH more knowledge about what is out there in terms of new technology.

So to answer your question, I'll ask another question.

Who would hire a middle aged professional who is not on the cutting edge of technology and pay them 20% more than what they would pay a fresh college grad who is up to date on new technology?

Experience is important, but experience can be gained quickly when one is thrown into the fire.

Producing more college graduates does not necessarily result in a U.S. population that is better educated. Most U.S. universities will graduate someone that can't even spell correctly or use correct grammar or perform basic mathematical skills. A mouse lemur could get a bachelors degree from any state university.

American Socialist

And what job skills does someone posess, whom is just starting out working have??

Well, for starters, being able to use spell-check and having a grasp on grammar would help.

Anilof - you are right on target (and it's not just state universities.)

It seems to be more of an endurance test than an education. If you can tolerate enough B.S. from the university, professors, teaching assistants, bookstores, campus police, other students, etc. for a specified period, you will eventually be awarded your B.S. or B.A.

Simple fact is that between technology gains, a lot fewer people needed for food/labor in general, and boomers staying in their jobs longer we have at least 50 million more people wanting a decent job than jobs. None of the current trends show an improvement in this area either.

It's a complicated problem with no easy solution; go to college, take on debt, hope for a job; or don't go to college, don't take on the debt, hope for on the job training...

Argh! This is so frustrating reading all these comments complaining about the cost of college. Students CHOOSE to pay those prices by taking on loan debt. You don't HAVE to take out loans to go to college. There are plenty of universities who offer excellent educations at reasonable costs. Students can even work part time and pay for their schooling. There are careers that have Paid Internships, where you can make $15/hr or more during summers.

There are far more choices than what you presented. College doesn't have to cost 100k to get a degree where you make 20k/yr. Look at the
"100 Best College Buys" list published annually by Institutional Research & Evaluation, Inc. for starters.

Hit the "For Profit" colleges where it hurts. Take your tuition money where you get a better return on your investment.

People are too used to getting everything they want.

knightofdespair - I'm a boomer who is not blocking someone from entering the workforce. I was happy to retire at 55 to make room for someone who needs the job (I am probably in the final group for that happy outcome.) Yes, there is less income, and benefits like health insurance cost more. Yes, I lost tax breaks like flexible spending accounts and premium conversion. I have abandoned additions to my social security and 401k-type accounts. But my needs are simple. The house and car are paid off. I have health insurance (so far, so good.) And every day is Saturday. I do sort of miss the holidays - no special day-off-with-pay to anticipate.

Students CHOOSE to pay those prices by taking on loan debt. You don't HAVE to take out loans to go to college

You're a f****** moron, yeah you can choose to compete directly with 100% of your age group and make nothing or go to college and maybe make more (although it rarely works out either). The choice of starve or starve anyway is not really a great choice, and idiots like you who can't see why millions of young people 'choose' to attend college when they can't afford a damn thing and got told their entire life if they get a degree they will be a lot better off have your head so far up your rear you need a team of firemen to help you see the light of day again.

The baby boomers what?.............

Started in 1946 ended in 1964. So I bet your mommy & daddy are boomers.

kc5000- you are the ass hole. Go @!$%# yourself ...

SS does not add to your problems..

BIG BUSINESS DOES

Did you even go to college? I did and I paid for it myself.

hannah - You paid for your college? Really?

You may have earned the money for tuition/housing/books, but all colleges and universities are heavily subsidized by somebody. Among those who have paid to establish schools and programs, build the facilities, pay operating costs, establish scholarships, etc. are :

All levels of Government

Private individual donors, including alumni

Corporate donors

Organizations like churches, lodges, social clubs, etc.

Unless you attended a for-profit institution with no endowment, that has never accepted a donation (money or property) or tax break from anyone - you did not pay the full cost for your college experience. Face it, a generous society has willingly supported your education. Congratulations on your success and endeavour - well done covering the costs you were asked to pay. Was there a course that taught humility in your transcript?

If you're a baby boomer that has routinely voted for politicians that have:

1. allowed congress to borrow from the SSI and Medicare Trusts
2. lower tax rates to obscenely low levels and spent like a drunken sailor
3. got us into one war, or many and added immense amounts to the national debt

Then you are one of the myriad of voters that are responsible for the current economy and the increasingly high cost of living compared to stagnating wages.

But regardless...the real blame isn't on the baby boomers as a generation...yet...wait until they go blue-haired and stack the polls in their favor to keep increasing the SSI-payouts for them whilst simultaneously increasing the age that others can gain access. As a demographic, they make up the single largest voting bloc in the US by a hefty margin...many of their monetary interests will eventually coincide and they as a group will vote even more perks for themselves to be paid for by subsequent generations.

The blame for our current mess lies squarely in the hands of a government bought and paid for by wealthy, but narrow sighted corporate interests looking to steer taxpayer dollars and federal regulations in their favor.

War costs? >>Haliburton, GE, Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop

Healthcare Costs?>> Big Pharma, Big Insurance

War on Drugs?>> ALEC, Private Prison Industry, numerous gov't agencies

Financial Collapse?>> Goldman Sachs, BofA/Countrywide, Lehman Bros., S&P and Moodies et al.

Either our government is paid to look the other way, or they act in complicity with the instigators.

If we're going to place blame anywhere...place it on the voters that don't vet their candidates effectively and stay affiliated with a political party even after they continue to screw up and support candidates that would lead this nation to ruin.

BABY BOOMERS are not the problem...

lying politicians and self righteous people are. Like I said I worked full time and PAID for my education... postman8 acts like he/she GAVE it to me. F*UCK YOU

And postman8 you can kiss my butt. You are SO ignored.

I have to disagree with you drenee2011, I live in New York. Although I agree that most highschool graduates here work in McDonalds for 7.50/hr. But I dissagree that there are no 15 dollar/hr jobs or atleast here. When I was in college, last year earning my Bachelors, I found a 15/hr job for most of my senior year. It was the IT field. I would not have had that job I think if I was not in college. When I graduated, I quit that job and got a better job. My friend who is stuck getting his associates because he can't pass a specific class has a 12/hr job. Another friend of mine has 7.50/hr job working in autozone and he is finishing his bachelors and graduates this year. The job market is a Mishmash, its all about what your major is, what you know, who you know, and how you sell yourself. Although in NY, making 15/hr is the same as making 10/hr in every state because cost of living is extremly high here.