Young adults have a right to be up in arms
bootlegga @ Thu May 03, 2012 5:10 am
$1:
Talk to your kids before you dismiss those Quebec student demonstrators as a bunch of spoiled malcontents.
Even if they’re not on their way into the streets to protest rising university tuitions, young adults have some legitimate grievances about the growing financial divide between them and the older generation.
Think about jobs – more people are expected to remain in the work force after age 65, which means less opportunity for recent graduates to find their first career-building position.
Think about housing – the baby boomers bought up all the cheap houses and now it’s prohibitively expensive to buy in some big cities.
Think about social programs – Old Age Security is being preserved untouched for today’s seniors by taking benefits away from younger Canadians, and we haven’t yet seen what changes will be required to our health care system as the population ages.
The Quebec demonstrations can’t be dismissed as simply an example of the province’s strong tradition of social activism, and neither are they the actions of selfish youths who aren’t satisfied with the lowest post-secondary tuitions in North America. What’s going on in the province is a fight by twentysomethings to be heard by governments that seem to have little interest in them.
As our population ages, young adults are increasingly being marginalized in a demographic sense. And they’ve never been much of a force politically. It’s no wonder, then, that politicians have little or nothing to say about the growing economic divide. You don’t win an election addressing that issue.
Tuition fees are the gateway problem for today’s young people in a financial sense. Some argue that cutting tuition only benefits well-off families because they’re the only ones who can afford to send their kids to university or college. Maybe so, but the net result of tuition costs at current levels is that, according to the Canadian Federation of Students, the average debt for university graduates is almost $27,000. At today’s interest rates for student loans, it would cost a grad a hefty $530 a month to pay that debt off over five years.
Large student debts would be both tolerable and fair in an economy where graduates can get on with their careers fairly quickly. But, anecdotally at least, this doesn’t seem to be the case. A quick summary of stories I’ve heard from recent graduates since my new book, How Not To Move Back In With Your Parents: A Young Person’s Guide to Financial Empowerment, was published last month:
– The only jobs I can find are unpaid internships.
– The job I have doesn’t pay me enough to take care of my student loans and afford my own apartment.
– All I can get are short-term contracts.
– I’m competing for jobs against people who are way overqualified.
I spoke with Zach Dayler, national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), in researching this column. He mentioned that his organization recently posted an opening for an entry-level policy and research analyst. People with law and master’s degrees are applying.
Once they land a job, the dream of home ownership lives strong in today’s young adults. Unfortunately, the flip side of all the money made in housing by baby boomers is sky-high prices for first-time buyers. It’s easy to say these buyers should suck it up and wait their turn, but that means enduring the older generation’s advice that renting is the dumbest financial move ever (actually, it’s buying a house you can’t properly afford).
One reason for pessimism in the outlook for twentysomethings is that governments are cutting both jobs and spending. Part of the government’s rationale is that it must prepare for the financial needs of the aging baby boom generation. The last federal budget announced a reform of OAS that will gradually raise the age of eligibility to 67 from 65 starting in 2023. People 54 and older are untouched by the changes. These are the very same retirees who in many cases binged on debt, neglected their retirement savings and thus will have to stay in the work force longer. Twentysomethings, get a load of your new competitors in the job market – mom and dad.
So why haven’t more kids been demonstrating like those Quebec students? Mr. Dayler, of CASA, said students in other provinces are accustomed to tuition increases and the idea that a post-secondary education means going into debt. The anger is there, however. “Just ask most young people what they think of their political representatives.”
Even if they’re not on their way into the streets to protest rising university tuitions, young adults have some legitimate grievances about the growing financial divide between them and the older generation.
Think about jobs – more people are expected to remain in the work force after age 65, which means less opportunity for recent graduates to find their first career-building position.
Think about housing – the baby boomers bought up all the cheap houses and now it’s prohibitively expensive to buy in some big cities.
Think about social programs – Old Age Security is being preserved untouched for today’s seniors by taking benefits away from younger Canadians, and we haven’t yet seen what changes will be required to our health care system as the population ages.
The Quebec demonstrations can’t be dismissed as simply an example of the province’s strong tradition of social activism, and neither are they the actions of selfish youths who aren’t satisfied with the lowest post-secondary tuitions in North America. What’s going on in the province is a fight by twentysomethings to be heard by governments that seem to have little interest in them.
As our population ages, young adults are increasingly being marginalized in a demographic sense. And they’ve never been much of a force politically. It’s no wonder, then, that politicians have little or nothing to say about the growing economic divide. You don’t win an election addressing that issue.
Tuition fees are the gateway problem for today’s young people in a financial sense. Some argue that cutting tuition only benefits well-off families because they’re the only ones who can afford to send their kids to university or college. Maybe so, but the net result of tuition costs at current levels is that, according to the Canadian Federation of Students, the average debt for university graduates is almost $27,000. At today’s interest rates for student loans, it would cost a grad a hefty $530 a month to pay that debt off over five years.
Large student debts would be both tolerable and fair in an economy where graduates can get on with their careers fairly quickly. But, anecdotally at least, this doesn’t seem to be the case. A quick summary of stories I’ve heard from recent graduates since my new book, How Not To Move Back In With Your Parents: A Young Person’s Guide to Financial Empowerment, was published last month:
– The only jobs I can find are unpaid internships.
– The job I have doesn’t pay me enough to take care of my student loans and afford my own apartment.
– All I can get are short-term contracts.
– I’m competing for jobs against people who are way overqualified.
I spoke with Zach Dayler, national director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), in researching this column. He mentioned that his organization recently posted an opening for an entry-level policy and research analyst. People with law and master’s degrees are applying.
Once they land a job, the dream of home ownership lives strong in today’s young adults. Unfortunately, the flip side of all the money made in housing by baby boomers is sky-high prices for first-time buyers. It’s easy to say these buyers should suck it up and wait their turn, but that means enduring the older generation’s advice that renting is the dumbest financial move ever (actually, it’s buying a house you can’t properly afford).
One reason for pessimism in the outlook for twentysomethings is that governments are cutting both jobs and spending. Part of the government’s rationale is that it must prepare for the financial needs of the aging baby boom generation. The last federal budget announced a reform of OAS that will gradually raise the age of eligibility to 67 from 65 starting in 2023. People 54 and older are untouched by the changes. These are the very same retirees who in many cases binged on debt, neglected their retirement savings and thus will have to stay in the work force longer. Twentysomethings, get a load of your new competitors in the job market – mom and dad.
So why haven’t more kids been demonstrating like those Quebec students? Mr. Dayler, of CASA, said students in other provinces are accustomed to tuition increases and the idea that a post-secondary education means going into debt. The anger is there, however. “Just ask most young people what they think of their political representatives.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-in ... le2420563/
OnTheIce @ Thu May 03, 2012 6:03 am
What a load that article is. I can't believe that guy actually wrote a book on this subject.
bootlegga @ Thu May 03, 2012 7:16 am
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
What a load that article is. I can't believe that guy actually wrote a book on this subject.
The best selling books these days are controversial ones, not ones titled, "Everything is A-Okay!"
But your statement sounds like one a Baby Boomer would make - who mostly think the system is working. If you're anything but a Boomer however, you've seen the system tilt slowly but surely towards favouring the Boomers in almost every way possible;
Environment - who cares, we'll be dead soon
Education - who cares if the government gave us cheap university educations, we want low taxes now, screw kids today
Health Care - you better have enough to take care of me in the coming years or I'll vote your ass out of office!
Retirement - who cares if future generations get OAS at 67, we still get ours at 65!
Jobs/Career - so what if we only needed to finish high school to have a great career, the kids today are all slackers who aren't willing to work hard to get ahead
And so on.
For example Harper's decision to move up OAS to 65 in 2023 is just a small part of the way society is changing. This isn't entirely his fault by any stretch of the imagination, but rather the fault of a generation of politicians everywhere who enact cynical policies like that to the detriment of future generations, simply to protect their jobs.
More importantly though, it's also the fault of younger generations who don't bother to vote - if the majority of them actually spoke up at election time, public policy would probably be vastly different.
Brenda @ Thu May 03, 2012 7:28 am
There are no jobs (at least not here) that actually come with a signed contract. It is all hourly, casual, relief and all that. No guarantees from the employer. How is anyone supposed to build a stable basis on that?
Mortgage broker: "Do you work?"
Client: "Yep, there and there"
Mortgage broker: "Can I have a copy of your contract?"
Client: "I don't have a contract. I have worked there for 3 years tho"
Buh-bye.
DanSC @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:10 am
Quebec students, who already pay the lowest tuition in the country, look a lot like White students protesting against Affirmative Action.
Recognize that you already have the best deal and accept a little equality with your fellow provinces.
OnTheIce @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:29 am
bootlegga bootlegga:
But your statement sounds like one a Baby Boomer would make - who mostly think the system is working. If you're anything but a Boomer however, you've seen the system tilt slowly but surely towards favouring the Boomers in almost every way possible;
The system is working. The thing people have a hard time understanding is that the system has CHANGED.
Our Cities are different. Our economy is different. The way we buy and manufacture goods is different.
Kids these days don't have the same challenges or advantages that boomers may have had and it's not the fault of our Governments past or present.
OnTheIce @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:30 am
Brenda Brenda:
There are no jobs (at least not here) that actually come with a signed contract. It is all hourly, casual, relief and all that. No guarantees from the employer. How is anyone supposed to build a stable basis on that?
Mortgage broker: "Do you work?"
Client: "Yep, there and there"
Mortgage broker: "Can I have a copy of your contract?"
Client: "I don't have a contract. I have worked there for 3 years tho"
Buh-bye.
Mortgage broker: "Do you work?"
Client: "Yep, there and there"
Mortgage broker: "Can I have a copy of your contract?"
Client: "I don't have a contract. I have worked there for 3 years tho"
Buh-bye.
You stop expecting the jobs to come to you and go where the jobs are.
BartSimpson @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:31 am
'Kill the old people and take their stuff' is what I'm hearing. Just more BS class warfare from the not-so-well-camoflauged communists and wanna-be dictators in society.
Oh, and in typical leftist fashion there's not one mention of how immigrants are competing for the same low-wage and entry level jobs that young Canadians used to take for granted.
OnTheIce @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:33 am
We protest in style here in Canada!
Brenda @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:49 am
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
Brenda Brenda:
There are no jobs (at least not here) that actually come with a signed contract. It is all hourly, casual, relief and all that. No guarantees from the employer. How is anyone supposed to build a stable basis on that?
Mortgage broker: "Do you work?"
Client: "Yep, there and there"
Mortgage broker: "Can I have a copy of your contract?"
Client: "I don't have a contract. I have worked there for 3 years tho"
Buh-bye.
Mortgage broker: "Do you work?"
Client: "Yep, there and there"
Mortgage broker: "Can I have a copy of your contract?"
Client: "I don't have a contract. I have worked there for 3 years tho"
Buh-bye.
You stop expecting the jobs to come to you and go where the jobs are.
Sure, and leave my kids? HELL NO.
Even the full time jobs and the jobs at the hospital come like this. ALL health care jobs are casual, ALL retail jobs are casual. You'd think the hospital would offer something good to the nurses and doctors when they are able to find any. They don't. There are a few trades in high demand and short supply, but NONE of the companies come up with a contract.
bootlegga @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:49 am
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
bootlegga bootlegga:
But your statement sounds like one a Baby Boomer would make - who mostly think the system is working. If you're anything but a Boomer however, you've seen the system tilt slowly but surely towards favouring the Boomers in almost every way possible;
The system is working. The thing people have a hard time understanding is that the system has CHANGED.
Our Cities are different. Our economy is different. The way we buy and manufacture goods is different.
Kids these days don't have the same challenges or advantages that boomers may have had and it's not the fault of our Governments past or present.
I don't think the system is working very well at all.
Everything is being slanted towards the older generation, and if you're a member of it, then you probably think it's working just fine. If you're not, it's easy to see how the system works against you, not for you.
The fact is that students paid about 10-15% of the cost of university education until the early 90s, then the Boomers demanded governments get their financial act together and cut spending. Many provinces responded by jacking up the cost of university education to over 30% in some provinces - after all, Boomers weren't going to university so those spending cuts didn't affect their political base. The same funding issues cropped up in trade schools and every other kind of post-secondary learning. That, coupled with Boomers working longer, makes it much harder for this generation to get out of the home and start a career of their own.
Look at Harper's move to raise OAS eligibility to 67 - which is a smart move to ensure it doesn't bankrupt the country. However, by not having it kick in until 2023, most Boomers (the country's biggest demographic BTW) won't be affected and it will make little difference on the viability of the program itself.
Same goes for the TFSA program he rolled out a few years back - that mostly benefits older people too - not very many 20-somethings/30-somethings have an extra $5000 each year to save.
In a decade, do you think the Boomers will be against deficit spending and want low taxes? I doubt it - because many of them will have reduced incomes and won't be as affected by higher taxes AND because most of the deficit will be based on trying to keep them alive for another few years.
However, like I said, much of the blame lies with the younger generation for not voting - if they did, they'd be far more capable of influencing policy decisions than they currently are.
Like I always say - if you don't vote - you have no right to bitch about the government that is chosen.
bootlegga @ Thu May 03, 2012 8:56 am
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
'Kill the old people and take their stuff' is what I'm hearing. Just more BS class warfare from the not-so-well-camoflauged communists and wanna-be dictators in society.
It's nothing of the sort - stop being so melodramatic.
The fact is that many parts of our society are always tilted towards the demographic that votes the most - right now, it's the Boomers.
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Oh, and in typical leftist fashion there's not one mention of how immigrants are competing for the same low-wage and entry level jobs that young Canadians used to take for granted.
It's not that young kids can't get those jobs, it's that they don't want them.
I've worked in part-time retail off and on for the past two decades, and the fact is most Canadian kids aren't interested in working in fast food, retail, janitorial or other typical unskilled jobs that pay poorly and/or are unglamourous. Many youngsters these days are just like their parents - they want to work in white collar jobs from 8-4/9-5 Monday to Friday, with stat holidays off.
It's too bad, because the ones that do really benefit from it and don't take their careers for granted.
OnTheIce @ Thu May 03, 2012 9:04 am
Brenda Brenda:
Sure, and leave my kids? HELL NO.
Even the full time jobs and the jobs at the hospital come like this. ALL health care jobs are casual, ALL retail jobs are casual. You'd think the hospital would offer something good to the nurses and doctors when they are able to find any. They don't. There are a few trades in high demand and short supply, but NONE of the companies come up with a contract.
Even the full time jobs and the jobs at the hospital come like this. ALL health care jobs are casual, ALL retail jobs are casual. You'd think the hospital would offer something good to the nurses and doctors when they are able to find any. They don't. There are a few trades in high demand and short supply, but NONE of the companies come up with a contract.
How old are your kids?
Deal with what you have if you're not willing to move for stable employment.
Brenda @ Thu May 03, 2012 9:08 am
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
Brenda Brenda:
Sure, and leave my kids? HELL NO.
Even the full time jobs and the jobs at the hospital come like this. ALL health care jobs are casual, ALL retail jobs are casual. You'd think the hospital would offer something good to the nurses and doctors when they are able to find any. They don't. There are a few trades in high demand and short supply, but NONE of the companies come up with a contract.
Even the full time jobs and the jobs at the hospital come like this. ALL health care jobs are casual, ALL retail jobs are casual. You'd think the hospital would offer something good to the nurses and doctors when they are able to find any. They don't. There are a few trades in high demand and short supply, but NONE of the companies come up with a contract.
How old are your kids?
Deal with what you have if you're not willing to move for stable employment.
12 and 14.
It is not a matter of not WILLING.
Are you going to say the same to the "young adults" who are up in arms? Who can't find stable employment? "Just deal with it while the baby-boomers have to work longer"?
"Deal with the fact that housing is more expensive than you can afford with the $12 you'd make in retail, or the $21 casual as a nurse with no guaranteed hours"?
DEAL WITH IT?
martin14 @ Thu May 03, 2012 9:10 am
bootlegga bootlegga:
I've worked in part-time retail off and on for the past two decades, and the fact is most Canadian kids aren't interested in working in fast food, retail, janitorial or other typical unskilled jobs that pay poorly and/or are unglamourous. Many youngsters these days are just like their parents - they want to work in white collar jobs from 8-4/9-5 Monday to Friday, with stat holidays off.
I'm sure most of us did exactly that growing up, it's part of the process
of building your way up the ladder.
So now we are really talking about a generation of kids whose
expectations are wayyyyy too high.