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…
In the current economic upheaval, those individuals with more education are unemployed at lower rates than all other groups. Or by wages, assuming that wage is an indicator of educational attainment, those with $60,000+ in wages have lower rates of unemployment than those earning less than $60,000. However, if the recession during The Great Financial…
The difficulties for those in the younger generations to generate wealth are consequences of a structural shift in the U.S. economy in the last forty years, well before today’s late Boomer and Gen X parents entered the labor market as twenty-somethings. As highlighted in a recent Federal Reserve Bank research paper, “Market Power, Inequality, and…
March 13, 2020 is Gen Z’s “Day of Infamy”, when K-12 school campuses closed due to COVID-related health risks, sequestering an entire generation of youth in the midst of their coming of age. Amidst the sudden, and now ever-extending health emergency, precipitating continued distance learning and canceled extracurricular activities, the emotional toll on teens only…
Adults often minimize the mental health of teenagers as “They’re young, they’ll get over it.” Yet, not every youth (or adult) can cope with life’s inevitable difficulties to the same degree. Even pre-COVID, the young, age 10-24 years old, were committing suicide at greater rates in nearly every state in the US. Since teenagers’ mental…
According to Bloomberg News: The Conference Board index, monitored by analysts as a signal of future consumer spending, dropped in October to 125.9 for a third-straight decline. Bloomberg, October 27, 2020 Furthermore, waning consumer confidence can also indicate a lack of confidence in the labor market, in other words, consumers may be spending less in…
According to the US Department of Labor statistics, the August 2020 College Tuition CPI dropped 0.7% from the month prior, the largest monthly drop since 1978. College tuition CPI includes: …annual consumer expenditures for undergraduate and post-graduate studies at 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, universities, and professional schools (law, dental, medical, etc.)…throughout the United States [minus…
As the stock market indexes continue rising, for those living on Wall Street, confidence only grows. However, as the Wall Street “Bunnies” continue gorging on pancakes, the bulging bubble only thins. While those kitties on Main Street, who aren’t getting to drink their milkshakes, build resentment, whose mother is fear. Public attitudes about the economy…
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…
As state revenues shrink, the subsidies to public K-12 schools and higher education systems will shrink proportionately, effectively increasing the (or likelihood of) fiscal deficits for educational institutions. In a recent Bloomberg News article discussing the economic state of affairs in California, the fifth largest state economy in the United States: California Governor Gavin Newsom…
The $14 Billion bailout for U.S. colleges and universities as part of the recent CARES Act will not solve the widening financial deficits in higher education. Costs to maintain buildings and the physical grounds, despite the lack of students present on campus, as well as salaries to faculty and staff must still be paid. Additionally,…
Courtesy Bloomberg News The employment outlook is at best difficult, and at worst, dire, even worse than The Great Financial Crisis of 2009 which was the worst in 45 years. Now, is the time to think seriously how to compete for what will be a difficult employment environment, at least over the short and intermediate…
In Parts 1 and 2, sentiment amongst college students and prospective college students may already be declining, which could be exacerbated even further, as we weather the current global pandemic with closed college campuses and students dispersed to their childhood homes. Additionally, the last of the Millennials are now college graduates, but experiencing a current…
In the chart above, the confidence amongst college graduates has steadily increased during the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Yet, as said sentiment drops with each recession and economists now predict recession within the next twelve months, I’d posit that sentiment amongst college graduates is rolling over and will revisit the 2009 lows. I…
Often students earn college degrees to increase their likelihood of future financial stability. Yet, as college costs are rising, students and their parents subsequently are borrowing more to earn said degree, thus students “spend” the equivalent of a few years’ of post-graduation wages while parents may delay retirement, the question is, “Is college worth the…
