In their very first sentence, the authors of a new economics report let us have it in the kisser with a wet steelhead. It begins, “Young adults in the United States have experienced higher rates of unemployment and lower rates of labor force participation than the general population for at least two decades.”
The phrase, “at least two decades,” doesn’t need special punctuation or emphasis. It is its own exclamation point. In four words it takes the Great Recession out of the chain of causality, and, as a bonus, takes politics out of the picture, too.
The recession certainly worsened things for young people, and politics probably did, too. Over the past 20 years, though, we’ve had a number of major economic changes and political shifts — too many to support the idea that either was actually causing the problem; making it worse, probably, but causing it, no.
The Federal Reserve’s study, “In The Shadow of the Great Recession: Experiences and Perspectives of Young Workers” is an effort to examine the effects of the changed jobs environment on workers entering, or attempting to enter, the work force for the first time. It is based on a survey of 2,097 workers ranging in age from 18 to 30 and attempts to draw some conclusions about what might be done to improve the jobs picture for young people just starting out.
The Federal Reserve report is a treasure trove of our young people’s experiences, perceptions, and even dreams, as they join and collide with today’s job market.
The first key finding in the report is that there is a mismatch between the information young people receive in their high school years and the information needed to make good decisions about further education. The report states, “Students need information on potential outcomes from a variety of educational options to guide their career-planning decisions.”
This seems like a pretty bland statement, but embedded in it are some significant structural changes, economic and social, that have taken place in our country.
The significance of these changes can be revealed by asking the question — why? Why is it more important now for today’s students to get this information than it was for previous generations?
Previous generations of Americans got their information about work, about careers, and about the education needed in a fairly haphazard way. Although guidance counselors existed in many schools, students did not voluntarily spend much time with them until college application season came.
Young people got most of their information about jobs and careers from their families, their friends, and, of course, from novels, movies, and television programs. Television programs seem overpopulated with lawyers, doctors, fire fighters, and police officers. These are the classic, “When I grow up I want to be a…” choices of little kids, and TV isn’t providing new information but just reinforcing traditional career preferences.
The Federal Reserve study did not delve into this aspect, but we know that families have changed — a lot — over the past twenty years and the effects of single-parent and two-earner families may be having an impact on young people’s uncertainty about career paths. It may also be having an effect on the number and types of adults that students come in contact with during their elementary and high school years.
Before we blame the public schools for this problem, then, it would be more helpful if we took some action to strengthen the link between education and career choices and help students to grasp the array of job possibilities that our world provides.
There are some young people who choose their career paths early in their lives and, as a result, pursue the educational requirements for those jobs with diligence. Many young people, however, find themselves approaching the end of their high school education with no clear idea of career direction and they make poor, often expensive, choices in their post-high school education.
There are several factors whose effects have combined to make post-high school education choices such an unforgiving process. The first is the daunting cost of higher education, which makes any career course changes very expensive.
Another factor, even more important, is that employers have become “credential crazed.” Convinced by experts that they shouldn’t trust their own judgment about job candidates, they increasingly rely on intrusive personality exams, transcripts, algorithms, background checks, degrees and certifications to make the hiring decisions for them. This has the effect of punishing career changes and hiring only “cubicle-ready” workers.
Young people are the key to our economy, present and future, and the Federal Reserve report gives a fascinating picture of what needs to be fixed. Politicians and public schools rejoice. It’s up to us to stop blaming and start fixing.
James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant. He also writes a column for the monthly Herald Business Journal.
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