Gen X Disproportionally Affected by the Recession

[expat_panama]

By BLAIRE BRIODY, The Fiscal Times
June 21, 2012

Though everyone seems to be feeling sorry for millennials, who are experiencing one of the highest unemployment rates and boomers, who are delaying their retirement due to the economy, the generation in between, Gen X, deserves their own time in the recession limelight.

A Census report released on Monday found that people between 35 and 44 saw a 59 percent decline in median household net worth between 2005 to 2010, the largest drop of all age groups. Those 55 to 64, only saw a 25 percent drop, though they had a larger decline in actual dollar amount.

Gen X, a generation that's relatively small at 46 million and known for their political apathy and trends like grunge in their heyday, has largely stayed out of the headlines; but they're also a generation that has tried to do everything right financially. Most worked at a stable job for years, built a comfortable savings, and likely just bought their first home at the market's peak. Then when everything came crashing down, they were stuck with an underwater mortgage, young kids in the house, possibly a job loss, and unlike boomers, they never had a chance to diversify their portfolios, potentially losing a lot of what they had in stocks.

Excerpt; more at Gen-X-Disproportionally-Affected-by-the-Recession.aspx#page1]Gen X Disproportionally Affected by the Recession[/COLOR]

Related article: 30-Something-and-Miserable-at-Work.aspx#page1]30-Something and Miserable at Work[/COLOR]

 

[expat_panama]

We've been hearing a lot about the huge drop in the drop in jobs/population --

--and administration hacks are trying to white wash the damage by saying it's just 'demographics' AKA old people retiring.

Reality is that if the drop were because of retiring old people then today's labor force would be younger. It isn't. It's the young that are out of work, not the old. Any google key words "generation unemployment" pops up articles pointing out--

--that blaming retirees doesn't make much sense. What does make sense is blaming the war on hiring, better known as an expressed policy of vengeance against employers that's causing massive unemployment, discouraged workers, and the forsaken young.

 

[Truthmatters]

I really feel for the generations below me ( im tail end of boomer) it really wacked them and screwed up many people who had done NOTHING to deserve the wacking.


It will make them much harder voters to fool.

they now see that policy matters.


Its NOT just a game and some of wealthy NEVER stop trying to win the entire game.


To second generation wealthy it can become a game.

they are trying to outdo the generation who gave them money so they can prove their worth to them.


Its not a good reason to do business.

A good reason to do business is to have a great idea and execute it in a manner that provides a good or service people need and or want.


Kinda like how darrel issa did it.

He saw the need first hand for car alrams.

He scraped and woked to see his dream into fruiation.


I admire him for turning his penchant for stealing cars into a legal business.

 

[expat_panama]

...some of wealthy NEVER stop trying to win the entire game...

Please share what you've heard from wealthy people that told you this. If you've never met a wealth person giving 'the entire game' as their goal, then it may not be true.

Back in '08 the young worked hard for Obama, and along with blacks, Jews, and women they form an enormous sector that have borne the brunt of bad policy. This happens a lot, reminding me of the old tale of the hangman who always kills those who help him the most.

 

[itfitzme]

Do the whole graph of labor force and employent, not some selected portion. The labor force and employment trends we see today are an extention of a process that began in 2001. The trend, that you keep posting, of declines since 2007, began in 2001. The recession simply made it considerably worse.

Look, you complain about hacks, then you do the same thing. I can't tell if your trying to prove the recession is the fault of the current admin or if you woke up when the recession hit and you think everything began then.

Either way, you miss the actual cause of the problem, a problem that began as early as 2001 and was made worse by the collapse of the housing bubble.

Here is the full picuture.

The reports on the labor force trends are as follows.

www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/10/art3full.pdf
Trends in labor force participation

www.prb.org/pdf08/63.2uslabor.pdf
U.S. Labor Force Trends 2008

www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/pdf/12q1VanZandweghe.pdf
Interpreting the Recent Decline in Labor Force Participation

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/08/01/DiCecio.pdf
Changing Trends in the Labor Force: A Survey 2008

http://ftp.iza.org/dp2991.pdf
What Explains Trends in Labor Force Participation of Older Men in the United States?

And, among it, they do present a picture of the youngest generation taking the bigger hit in the lack of employment.

p.s. I am still working on getting a full picture of employment by age group.

 

[expat_panama]

...working on getting a full picture of employment by age...

Often what happens is that the harder it is to get a particular category of info, the less reliable it often turns out to be...

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Excellent thread expat...and great information.
I have been arguing about the job participation data for awhile - but did not have the graphs you provided.

 

[Avorysuds]

I really feel for the generations below me ( im tail end of boomer) it really wacked them and screwed up many people who had done NOTHING to deserve the wacking.


It will make them much harder voters to fool.

they now see that policy matters.


Its NOT just a game and some of wealthy NEVER stop trying to win the entire game.


To second generation wealthy it can become a game.

they are trying to outdo the generation who gave them money so they can prove their worth to them.


Its not a good reason to do business.

A good reason to do business is to have a great idea and execute it in a manner that provides a good or service people need and or want.


Kinda like how darrel issa did it.

He saw the need first hand for car alrams.

He scraped and woked to see his dream into fruiation.


I admire him for turning his penchant for stealing cars into a legal business.

Holy fucking shit TM... A whole post without bias or filled with hate.

I'd honestly give you rep for that. I truly hope you can do this more often.

Anyways, I'm only 30 so I have not been around long enough to see generations play out, but this is a subject of interst to me.

 

[expat_panama]

Excellent thread expat...and great information.
I have been arguing about the job participation data for awhile - but did not have the graphs you provided.

Thanks!

Seems like every week or so that some new pundit 'discovers' the fact that employment/population's crashed in a way not explained by demographics --in fact there was a thread last week based on a piece in philly.com.

My kids are fighting to find and keep work and my heart goes out to them.