As of First Quarter 2021, 3.8 million 20-24 year olds are not in school nor employed, 740,000 more young adults adrift than in First Quarter 2020. While wondering, “Where are they?”, more disturbing to consider is, “What are the long term consequences of a delayed entry into adulthood?” First, dismay may be transforming into disaffection.…
The effects of the COVID-induced disruptions to education have yet to be quantified in the intermediate and long term, thus educators struggling to redefine “normal” learning for years to come, as an entire COVID-affected generation, Pre-K through College, matriculates through the educational system. Additionally, the SAT, an 80 year old admissions requirement, is being summarily…
While many may, as a child, dream of being a doctor when they grow up, few actually do. While many high school students intend to study “pre-med” once enrolled in college, few stay the course. While many college students intend to apply to medical school, only some do. And, of those select few, on average…
Many college grads are newly certificated, soon to be jettisoned from the Bank of Mom & Dad, to assume full fiscal and otherwise responsibility as novice adults. But, adulting is complicated. As the astute Lewis Lapham noted about his own experience he needed to … take the college-boy thumb out of my mouth, come of…
Class of 2020 and 2021 college grads, anxious to shop their abilities amongst employers, will confront a complex labor market post the 2020 COVID-influenced economic meltdown. As Class of 2021 graduates emerge from the chrysalis of college, seeking entry into the professional class, they may instead queue up behind the 45% of their Class of…
As new college grads join the ranks of the career-minded, dutifully employed professional, hopeful yet apprehensive in the concomitant uncertainty, I’m sharing advice from Avni, who’s a few years post college graduation. Her wisdom as she reflected on her few years working full time wrangling adulthood, then wondering what if… I would give two pieces…
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Becky Frankiewicz writing for the Harvard Business Review (HBR) tackled the topic of higher education and full employment leaving out, for now, the idea of a lasting peace of mind. Of course, although there may be a multi-decade correlation between a college degree and three or less careers in one’s lifetime, equaling…
In February 2020, approximately 165 million people were employed out of an approximate civilian population of 250 million Americans. In the economic recession of March 2020, 20 million jobs were lost. Since then, in the interim 12 months, only 10 millions jobs were re-created, leaving 10 million people still seeking employment. Of that 10 million,…
Many soon-to-be college graduates—in a time of economic upheaval and pandemic induced doubt—fatalistic and full of dread can relate to the most recent college student-produced meme. Currently, unemployment and underemployment of new college grads is increasing, and gateways to employment like internships and other extracurricular activities are drying up or are suspended at closed or…
For the first time in four weeks, less than 800,000 people filed new unemployment claims (those who have lost their jobs and now seek financial relief from either state or federal government) during the week ending October 17, 2020. Yet, the pre-COVID job market is slow to recover post the March 2020 financial tantrum, as…
When assessing the health of the labor market, having perspective born of fact versus media hype is essential when defining a plan for weathering the economic storm, especially for those on the cusp of entering the job market for the first time after earning an undergraduate or graduate degree. Or, our current economic situation as…
The American middle class is shrinking. Why?
Many are doing more with less, while living through the global, systemic retreat from “life as we knew it”, induced by a virus we cannot see. For some, though, doing the “same with less” is now their life’s maxim, having accepted substantial pay cuts to remain employed during the current economic upheaval. As Megan Casella…
With nearly half of all American adults out-of-work and a second wave of the coronavirus making itself known with governments at the state, federal and local levels issuing varying orders affecting daily life, new entrants into the labor market, the young college graduate or not, are rightfully concerned. Nearly half of the population is still…
The above chart depicts that the wealthiest and upper middle class have not only regained their wealth previous to the 2008 recession, but gained greater wealth, at the expense of the middle class and poorest classes. And, now, middle class and poorer families are facing an even greater economic downturn that has yet to be…
