(Ron Meyer) The Great Youth Depression is only getting bleaker and the ugly statistics keep piling up for the Obama administration.
Last year, we learned 85 percent of the 2011 college class moved in with their parents. This year, 53 percent of young Americans are either unemployed or underemployed.
And, the Obama administration has the worst summer youth jobs numbers ever recorded–youth unemployment has remained over 16 percent all four years.
And today, we learned from a PayScale.com survey that, of the 63 percent of young Americans who hold bachelor’s degrees, less than half of them have jobs requiring a college education. During this recession, youth salaries have dropped 10 percent as young people have been forced to take lower-paying jobs.
When will the carnage stop?
Not soon. Yesterday, Stephanie Cutter, a close accomplice to the Obama administration, claimed that the Obama administration’s recovery is going better than the Reagan administration’s.
Spare me.
Bragging about job creation when the vast majority of young Americans are unemployed or underemployed is insulting-especially when Cutter lies about President Reagan’s record.
Not only did the Reagan recovery produce more than three times the amount of jobs (9.8 million vs. 2.7 million in first 37 months after recession), youth jobs dramatically increased too. From the Reagan recovery to the end of his administration, youth unemployment went from 18.8 percent to 10.7 percent.
President Reagan empowered the private sector to build jobs. The Obama administration has only built more barriers to hiring young Americans.
The Obama administration has added more than $46 billion to the cost of regulations on businesses through bills like ObamaCare.
That’s the equivalent of more than 1 million jobs (with salaries at the national average). The government is spending more than $33,000 per taxpayer and sucking the lifeblood out of our economy.
It’s no wonder young people are miserable.
Instead of talking up their failed record, the Obama administration needs to promote policies which employ young Americans. This means empowering the private sector and pressuring higher education to produce a more usable product.
Tuition, taxes, spending, and regulations have skyrocketed under the Obama administration, and if the Obama administration is serious about helping young Americans, they should address those issues now.