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This assignment provides you an opportunity to recognize problems in the employment sector for young people in the United States today.
Answer all of the questions and save it as “Employment Analysis_Your Last Name x.”
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September 24 2014 10:35
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24 September 2014 ProQuest
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24 September 2014 ii ProQuest
Document 1 of 1
Why Young People Can’t Find Work
Author: Puzder, Andrew
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Abstract: Given the destructive effect this has on individual initiative and the prospects of a productive and
rewarding working life, the continuing struggle of young Americans to find jobs, start building families and
contribute to society is no longer simply a matter of politics or policy. The Congressional Budget Office has
forecast a loss of 500,000 jobs should the president’s proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10
an hour become law.
Links: Click here to check for full text availability
Full text: In President Obama’s speeches this year, a steady theme has been creating jobs and economic
opportunity for Americans. In his State of the Union address in January he said that “what I believe unites the
people of this nation . . . is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all — the notion that if you work hard and
take responsibility, you can get ahead.” And in his weekly address on Saturday, he repeated his strong appeal
to young people: “As long as I hold this office, I’ll keep fighting to give more young people the chance to earn
their own piece of the American Dream.”
Yet during the more than five years Mr. Obama has been in office, young people have been especially hard-hit
by the slow and virtually jobless recovery. Given the destructive effect this has on individual initiative and the
prospects of a productive and rewarding working life, the continuing struggle of young Americans to find jobs,
start building families and contribute to society is no longer simply a matter of politics or policy. On a deeply
human level, it’s profoundly sad.
Consider these grim employment numbers:
— In February the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recorded the lowest percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds
working or actively looking for work (32.9%) since the bureau started tracking the data in 1948. The BLS
recorded the second-lowest labor-participation rate for this group in April (33.2%) and the third-lowest in
January (33.3%). May’s rate was the sixth lowest (33.8%).
— Over the past two years, the BLS has recorded some of the worst labor participation rates for 20- to 24-year-
olds since 1973, when the Vietnam War was beginning to wind down. In August 2012, the 69.7% rate was the
lowest since ’73. The second-lowest (70%) came in March last year. This year, the third-lowest rate came in
April (70.2%). May’s rate was a still-miserable 71%.
— Looking at the seasonally unadjusted data — which is what the BLS makes publicly available — for 25- to 29-
year-olds, the April 2014 labor-participation rate was the lowest the BLS has recorded since it started tracking
the data in 1982 (79.8%). May’s rate was the second-lowest (79.9%). January, February and March tied with
the fourth-lowest (80.3%).
These disturbing numbers raise a simple question: Where are the entry-level jobs?
Five years of 2% average yearly GDP growth simply doesn’t produce enough jobs to absorb the natural
increase in the labor force, and over the past eight quarters GDP growth has averaged only 1.7%. Between May
2008 and May 2014, BLS data show that the employable population increased by 14,217,000 while the number
of people employed actually decreased by 94,000 and the number of people unemployed increased by
1,404,000. It remains a bad time for young people to be looking for jobs.
Nonetheless, various states and municipalities have increased their minimum wage, thereby increasing the cost
of employing inexperienced workers. Minimum-wage jobs have always been a gateway to better opportunities.
In making hiring decisions, businesses must weigh the quality and value of work that entry-level employees
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produce against the cost of employing them. For many businesses in high-minimum-wage states or
municipalities — Seattle leads the list, having approved a move to a $15 minimum wage — that trade-off is no
longer working.
The bottom line on labor: Make something less expensive and businesses will use more of it. Make something
more expensive and businesses will use less of it. The Congressional Budget Office has forecast a loss of
500,000 jobs should the president’s proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour become
law.
The CBO also forecast that this increase would lift a number of people who already have jobs above the poverty
threshold. For 500,000 unemployed people, however, that’s 500,000 opportunities American businesses will
never create.
ObamaCare is also increasing the cost of hiring inexperienced workers. The health-care law requires that
businesses with more than 50 full-time employees offer medical insurance to employees working 30 or more
hours a week. The administration knows that the employer mandate will kill jobs and has twice delayed
implementing it. With an election on the horizon, American businesses know that these delays were political and
that the mandate’s economically damaging impact is in the pipeline, coming their way.
ObamaCare gives businesses an incentive to either eliminate entry-level jobs or keep the workers’ hours to
under 30 a week. It also gives businesses a reason to reduce the hours of experienced employees to under 30
a week. These experienced employees are now working second jobs to compensate for their lost hours —
resulting in fewer positions for less-experienced workers.
To get on the ladder of opportunity, America’s young people need jobs. Creating disincentives to hire them
diminishes the notion that “if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.” The reality is that you
can’t get ahead if you can’t find a job.
I’m not speaking primarily as a business CEO. My company will adjust to new laws. I’m speaking as someone
from a working-class family. I started work scooping ice cream for the minimum wage at Baskin-Robbins. To put
myself through college and law school while supporting my family, I cut lawns, painted houses and busted
concrete with a jackhammer. I know how important these jobs are. For one thing, they taught me — as no
lectures from my parents ever could — that I needed a good education so I wouldn’t have to settle for low-paying
work the rest of my life. Too many young people today are being deprived of even that basic lesson.
—
Mr. Puzder is the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants.
(See related letters: “Letters to the Editor: For Many of Us, the Work Ethic Started Early in Life” — WSJ June 21,
2014)
Credit: By Andrew Puzder
Subject: Minimum wage; Gross Domestic Product–GDP; Statistical data; Unemployment;
Location: United States–US
People: Obama, Barack
Company / organization: Name: Congressional Budget Office–CBO; NAICS: 921120;
Classification: 9190: United States; 1210: Politics & political behavior; 1110: Economic conditions & forecasts
Publication title: Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition
Pages: A.15
Publication year: 2014
Publication date: Jun 10, 2014
24 September 2014 Page 2 of 3 ProQuest
Year: 2014
Publisher: Dow Jones & Company Inc
Place of publication: New York, N.Y.
Country of publication: United States
Publication subject: Business And Economics–Banking And Finance
ISSN: 00999660
Source type: Newspapers
Language of publication: English
Document type: News
ProQuest document ID: 1534220625
Document URL:
http://ezproxy.vccs.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1534220625?accountid=12902
Copyright: (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further
reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Last updated: 2014-06-20
Database: ProQuest Newsstand
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- Why Young People Can’t Find Work
Soc.200
Unit 4.3 Economy and Work
Analysis of “Why Young People Can’t Find Work” from Wall Street Journal. June 10, 2014
Grade weight =
1
0 points
Please download and complete this analysis. To submit, upload this document into the assignment dropbox by the due date.
Make sure you use adequate examples to explain your answers. Each answer should be approximately 4-6 sentences in length.
1. What does the Bureau of Labor Statistics say specifically about your age group and lack of participation in the work force? How does this rank compare to participation within a historical context (throughout history)? (3 points)
2. What did you learn about the raising of minimum wage and the consequences of higher unemployment? You have learned about the Davis Moore thesis in our readings. What would this theory say about the function of minimum wage jobs in our society? (3 points)
3. If you were a business owner, and had to adhere to the policies discussed in this article (minimum wage increase and mandatory health coverage), would you adjust your hiring practices? Would you consider automation or other alternatives? Please be specific. (2 points)
4. Now that you have heard the grim statistics on unemployment for young people, what can you offer as possible solutions to increase employment rates? (Obviously instituting policies that have already been mentioned is not an option for this answer) (2 points)
