Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Implications of Higher 'Starting' Age Entering the Workforce

Digg This!Netscape BookmarkReddit BookmarkDel.icio.us Bookmark

I will begin on a more anecdotal note, despite the very statistical nature of this article.

When I was a kid, my mother let me borrow the lawnmower only after I had finished our own lawn, to go around the neighborhood and provide the same service to others who weren't blessed with kids to do yardwork. I got $5 or $6 a yard and I was rolling in the bucks; enough to buy any toy I wanted, large or small.

When I turned 14, I was able to get a work permit. I no longer had to sell Christmas cards from door to door or do odd yard work to make a wage. Was I slave labor? No! Was I child labor? Yes. Was it immoral? Absolutely not! I learned the work ethic that made America great, and I learned it early, while my learning curve was short, fast and deep. The first job I had I was as a busboy and dishwasher. It was summer. It was hot. And I had a ball.

I had no idea I 'was being abused', because I wasn't!

At 47, some think I am old. Well, I am old enough to begin to say things like, 'those were the good ole days'.

I see a generation of lost souls with nothing to do. My son wants to be responsible when mom calls him out on his lazy behavior, but what is he going to do? Take a job from an illegal immigrant. Impossible -- he hasn't taken a foreign language yet. And it it is he who would be fired on the basis of HIS national origin. My, how things have changed.

Politics is becoming more complicated because, on this issue, we find both the extremes of both parties attacking our right to work as American citizens and legal immigrants by allowing us to be either pushed out of or prevented from entering the workforce.

I refuse to believe all of it is a sense of "spoiling our children" because frankly most Americans could use the additional income provided by their working kids. Mom could use a break as a working kid is out of her hair while she is at home or at her job. My mom was confident that her son wasn't committing crimes or doing drugs, as I was under supervision by mentors who cared about my personal development of a work ethic. It helped their businesses and it helped me.

I refuse, by the way, to blame this on the rising minimum wage, because even then, I was making the equivalent of $15/hr when adjusted for inflation. By the time I was 16 and had a driver's license, I was a stocker at a grocery store, in a union of all things, making $6/hr in 1976. That is like $20/hr now. But those rates don't exist now, as the rich in America have priced labor out of reality, on the low side for us and on the high side for them.

When I was 18, I worked in construction, $10/hr (1978). That rate stayed at a living wage through 1990, then it began to fall as subsequent administrations began to ignore the citizens for whom they work.

Many will blame it on free trade agreements. Others, who have actually read those agreements, realize it is about failure to enforce the labor relations clauses of those agreements, allowing multinational corporations to make profits without consideration of fair competition and humane treatment in their foreign factories.

It was during the late days of the Clinton administration that the rich discovered they could slowly either move jobs elsewhere, or they could hire illegal immigrants who cannot complain about their pay and treatment. Pay has become unlivable unless you have 10+ PEOPLE IN A SMALL HOUSE IN A BAD SECTION OF TOWN.

Our children have been taught to hate 'those people' and they do. They don't realize, it was the rich that made this happen, and it is they our children should be looking at... with contempt.

They have bought and paid for our officials whose jobs it is to curb their ferocious appetites for profit.

Though we have laws against the corporate abuse of our airwaves, no one enforces them. The entire AM dial is rotten with propaganda feeding the masters. This is not 'free market'; it is called antitrust and no one -- who is paid to care, does.

The data below makes it clear where America is headed; toward American adults/parents working for less than what their kids used to get paid due to a failure of the government to protect the very sovereignty that makes us a nation.

In the long term, we will see that it has and will continue to destroy the thing that made good kids into good citizens. Young people will grow up knowing they have been disenfranchised. Minorities, who ARE Americans will be pitted against those who take their jobs and fail to notice who allowed it.

America has entered an age when push must become shove, but who do we shove? The government has put border agents in jail when they simply do their jobs. The result is, no one is standing in line to become a border agent, so no one will guard the border and those who do will simply step aside and welcome those crossing (if they want to keep their jobs). Is this a slippery slope fallacy, much ado about nothing or a truly slippery slope where not only will we fall and slide down a deadly hill, but snow will avalanche behind us and bury us. Too dramatic?

Well, death, starvation and dying is pretty dramatic.

It sounds like a lot to infer from a lifetime of experience, observation and the data below that we are in danger of, if not already, becoming a slave nation and our kids will not even know they are slaves and neither will most adults as they become angry at the wrong enemies.

Note: the population has risen by as much as 1/3 (estimation due to impossibly high illegal immigration numbers) while the total number of jobs for those 16-24 has declined dramatically.


Data extracted on: May 16, 2007 (1:41:24 PM)

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Series Id:           LNS12000000

Seasonal Adjusted

Series title: (Seas) Employment Level

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 years and over

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

128298

128298

128891

129143

129464

129412

129822

130010

130019

130179

130653

130679


1998

130726

130807

130814

131209

131325

131244

131329

131390

131986

131999

132280

132602


1999

133027

132856

132947

132955

133311

133378

133414

133591

133707

133993

134309

134523


2000

136559(1)

136598

136701

137270

136630

136940

136531

136662

136893

137088

137322

137614


2001

137778

137612

137783

137299

137092

136873

137071

136241

136846

136392

136238

136047


2002

135701

136438

136177

136126

136539

136415

136413

136705

137302

137008

136521

136426


2003

137421(1)

137470

137439

137628

137538

137782

137483

137542

137591

137985

138453

138425


2004

138471(1)

138507

138436

138667

138835

139162

139584

139569

139491

139750

140272

140154


2005

140236(1)

140320

140599

141229

141569

141704

142084

142423

142449

142586

142597

142782


2006

143099(1)

143319

143680

143763

144045

144386

144330

144618

144906

145337

145623

145926


2007

145957(1)

145919

146254

145786










1 : Data affected by changes in population controls in January 2000, January 2003, January 2004, January 2005, January 2006, and January 2007.


Series Id:           LNU02000000

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 years and over

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

126384

126887

128125

128629

129565

130463

131350

130865

129972

130671

130999

130785

129558

1998

128882

129482

130150

130735

131476

132265

132769

132206

131864

132424

132577

132732

131463

1999

131339

131639

132299

132552

133411

134395

134800

134264

133555

134390

134515

134696

133488

2000

134912(1)

135490

136054

136927

136685

137915

137769

137308

136790

137532

137461

137846

136891

2001

136181

136577

137155

137022

137121

137737

138239

136809

136835

136885

136370

136269

136933

2002

134177

135443

135558

135903

136559

137181

137495

137295

137377

137551

136684

136599

136485

2003

135907(1)

136433

136783

137424

137567

138468

138503

138137

137731

138619

138700

138556

137736

2004

136924(1)

137384

137691

138423

138867

139861

140700

140226

139641

140447

140581

140278

139252

2005

138682(1)

139100

139759

140939

141591

142456

143283

143142

142579

143340

142968

142918

141730

2006

141481

141994

142772

143405

144041

145216

145606

145379

145010

146125

146014

146081

144427

2007

144275(1)

144479

145323

145297










1 : Data affected by changes in population controls in January 2000, January 2003, January 2004, January 2005, January 2006, and January 2007.


Series Id:           LNS12000086

Seasonal Adjusted

Series title: (Seas) Employment Level - 16-17 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 17 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

2616

2645

2617

2667

2619

2645

2629

2614

2647

2703

2709

2685


1998

2837

2772

2814

2790

2754

2694

2735

2761

2792

2706

2706

2840


1999

2771

2834

2790

2819

2834

2698

2830

2783

2729

2847

2775

2823


2000

2871

2791

2831

2823

2734

2826

2638

2753

2724

2656

2725

2790


2001

2604

2645

2622

2584

2652

2604

2581

2431

2549

2537

2493

2423


2002

2272

2348

2446

2313

2257

2354

2359

2333

2392

2380

2240

2258


2003

2363

2314

2281

2280

2328

2332

2318

2380

2289

2234

2359

2264


2004

2327

2274

2153

2215

2137

2087

2174

2128

2175

2211

2242

2241


2005

2287

2285

2323

2220

2232

2296

2260

2309

2302

2288

2281

2337


2006

2296

2364

2328

2400

2500

2535

2427

2390

2449

2560

2520

2513


2007

2394

2275

2301

2315











Series Id:           LNU02000086

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level - 16-17 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 17 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

2293

2327

2312

2419

2484

3003

3409

3102

2611

2640

2588

2591

2648

1998

2486

2456

2507

2543

2606

3065

3523

3226

2761

2650

2584

2738

2762

1999

2435

2522

2493

2571

2671

3078

3640

3237

2708

2798

2657

2706

2793

2000

2536

2499

2532

2572

2576

3222

3377

3169

2704

2615

2621

2681

2759

2001

2333

2382

2347

2354

2492

2961

3292

2781

2528

2493

2405

2323

2558

2002

2045

2126

2196

2109

2116

2666

2998

2659

2368

2337

2172

2164

2330

2003

2138

2103

2053

2087

2179

2622

2931

2710

2262

2188

2294

2175

2312

2004

2117

2079

1944

2032

1999

2334

2735

2421

2138

2160

2188

2168

2193

2005

2089

2098

2101

2040

2086

2558

2828

2622

2253

2231

2231

2270

2284

2006

2099

2177

2109

2210

2335

2833

3039

2715

2392

2495

2470

2449

2444

2007

2174

2066

2069

2129











Series Id:           LNS12000012

Seasonal Adjusted

Series title: (Seas) Employment Level - 16-19 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 19 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

6595

6585

6647

6704

6690

6531

6615

6650

6605

6686

6849

6817


1998

7035

6959

7014

6985

7007

7033

7018

7074

7212

7036

7052

7214


1999

7092

7229

7155

7153

7331

7037

7193

7117

7090

7232

7198

7251


2000

7298

7206

7241

7393

7280

7284

6995

7120

7110

7088

7143

7172


2001

7104

7038

7001

6860

6717

6812

6784

6356

6649

6602

6620

6400


2002

6361

6425

6507

6349

6332

6348

6317

6208

6416

6397

6209

6139


2003

6096

6054

5875

5945

5932

5880

5844

5865

5862

5851

6005

5855


2004

5975

5891

5762

5908

5903

5818

5895

5923

5895

5933

6035

5948


2005

5918

5813

5948

5912

5920

5990

6014

6060

6056

5970

6015

6081


2006

6090

6153

6150

6169

6215

6253

6197

6079

6060

6161

6202

6200


2007

6145

6078

6019

5970











Series Id:           LNU02000012

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level - 16-19 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 19 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

5952

6032

6182

6285

6537

7372

8145

7554

6285

6419

6552

6614

6661

1998

6396

6422

6571

6577

6847

7905

8580

7955

6838

6753

6744

7020

7051

1999

6460

6699

6715

6735

7150

7900

8752

7962

6724

6977

6909

7081

7172

2000

6666

6703

6786

6965

7076

8163

8474

7933

6752

6873

6859

7023

7189

2001

6511

6558

6568

6448

6506

7630

8190

7073

6341

6424

6361

6267

6740

2002

5843

5986

6108

5959

6120

7105

7615

6914

6131

6232

5973

5992

6332

2003

5612

5637

5512

5570

5722

6581

7039

6546

5615

5701

5780

5709

5919

2004

5503

5475

5402

5522

5690

6517

7114

6621

5645

5775

5816

5800

5907

2005

5460

5395

5570

5524

5707

6714

7260

6775

5789

5801

5803

5934

5978

2006

5620

5700

5757

5760

5990

7023

7494

6801

5783

5978

5989

6052

6162

2007

5656

5592

5611

5549











Series Id:           LNS12024887

Seasonal Adjusted

Series title: (Seas) Employment Level - 16-24 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 24 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

18878

18873

18948

18968

19194

18911

19086

19005

19042

19067

19313

19291


1998

19500

19447

19491

19565

19617

19574

19495

19572

19754

19725

19741

19853


1999

19798

19971

20077

19900

20185

19908

20100

20120

20107

20160

20148

20303


2000

20344

20253

20356

20540

20240

20479

20158

20414

20567

20570

20552

20606


2001

20601

20487

20493

20279

19974

20014

20112

19564

20131

19861

19939

19686


2002

19471

19769

19758

19600

19812

19696

19671

19693

19859

19692

19631

19551


2003

19605

19564

19355

19364

19344

19358

19218

19241

19258

19272

19380

19295


2004

19643

19538

19399

19704

19546

19505

19667

19680

19509

19747

19826

19779


2005

19649

19381

19654

19594

19663

19836

19934

19802

19873

19940

19955

19885


2006

19815

19947

19973

19957

20093

20105

20045

20133

19987

20010

20107

20273


2007

20231

20217

20224

19952











Series Id:           LNU02024887

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Series title: (Unadj) Employment Level - 16-24 yrs.

Labor force status: Employed

Type of data: Number in thousands

Age: 16 to 24 years

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Annual

1997

17785

18012

18275

18440

18962

20203

21197

20207

18579

18764

18983

19075

19040

1998

18466

18621

18840

19059

19372

20866

21599

20722

19239

19448

19409

19654

19608

1999

18797

19163

19415

19400

19902

21177

22178

21220

19609

19915

19845

20137

20063

2000

19368

19484

19660

20032

19927

21756

22156

21481

20077

20356

20260

20460

20418

2001

19678

19745

19800

19778

19648

21212

22042

20529

19706

19694

19675

19547

20088

2002

18653

19074

19091

19108

19484

20828

21501

20653

19466

19542

19397

19394

19683

2003

18811

18880

18709

18873

19032

20432

20950

20181

18909

19139

19163

19136

19351

2004

18852

18841

18752

19184

19237

20587

21447

20660

19158

19609

19615

19619

19630

2005

18858

18670

18989

19071

19356

20949

21749

20814

19503

19794

19750

19733

19770

2006

19003

19182

19291

19406

19769

21268

21914

21167

19604

19853

19903

20129

20041

2007

19407

19415

19538

19368












U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Postal Square Building
2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
Washington, DC 20212-0001

Phone: (202) 691-5200

4 comments:

Editor said...

The Unemplyoment Index doesn't account for average income rises and falls adjusted for inflation. They don't consider number of hours worked and they don't consider the value of benefits. They specially don't count the millions on social programs who aren't even counted as population.

Just think briefly about this and you realize, the quality of life in America by any measure other than "how rich are the rich?", is thunderously lower than it was just 10 years ago and falling rapidly as debt increases at the same rate.

Meanwhile, a higher percentage of Americans are in jail for victimless crimes (recreational drug use mostly) than anywhere in the world. So if you have plans to alter your thinking, be sure the govt. will find a way to make it against the law.

Anonymous said...

perhaps a bit off the topic.
I want to share a little story about labor's struggle in the U.S.
And 2 of it's unsung heroes. Everyone should watch the film "Harlan County U.S.A." a documentary by Director Barbara Kopple. Anytime labor issues are discussed I think of this film. If you've already viewed it, the UMW organizers Jim and his wife Sue are featured fairly prominently in the film. I knew Sue ever since we were kids.
She was truly an angel of social conscience, She spent her life fighting for justice as you can see her doing in this film. She did more good in the world than anyone I've ever known. She is very sorely missed, (died in a car accident on her way to teach in a prison.) She always saw the good in every human being and never gave up on anyone.
Both Jim and Sue had their lives threatened many times by mercenaries right here in the U.S.
The irony of being exposed to all that violence and danger, then dieing in a car crash...
I digress, this film will open your eyes as to the hard won freedoms and labor practices that we today seem all to willing to throw away for a false sense of security. (this might be a good DVD for DC to make available through the site.)
RFE

Anonymous said...

"It was during the late days of the Clinton administration that the rich discovered they could slowly either move jobs elsewhere, or they could hire illegal immigrants who cannot complain about their pay and treatment"

This is why the new amnesty bill will fail. The legalized workers will be entitled to full pay. As a consequence, a new batch of illegal immigrant will cross the border to fill the need for cheap illegal labor. They will cross the border emboldened by the knowledge that twice we have granted amnesty to illegal immigrant if they were willing to break the law. I see this exact debate happening again in 2015.

Meanwhile those attempting legal emigration sit and wait on corrupt Mexican officials.

It is a shame.

katiecakes said...

I'd say quality of life is really declining in our country. In the past you could raise a family without much problem on a teacher salery. Not the case any more, at least where I live. I have a modest studio, a dodge neon, and only myself to answer to. Even to maintain that life style I work at the mall at night and tutor after school. This is the case for most of my friends that I work with. At my school you won't find one teacher who doesn't have atleast a second job unless they are married or something. The teaching assistants have it much worse. They make only 12,000 a year. Incase your wondering, in my city if you break that down it might pay the rent on a one bedroom apartment with nothing left over at all for luxeries like running water, food, clothes, etc,.

Related Posts with Thumbnails