Young, Unemployed, and Discouraged in America
After an “incredibly disheartening” job search that lasted several months, one young Vermonter told Sen. Bernie Sanders that he “ended up taking an unpaid internship.” Burdensome student loans remain a stumbling block for many just out of college. A 20-year-old Michigan graduate with a technical degree said, “I fear that if I do not get a job soon that I will have to default on my loans or go back to school just to give myself more time.” With the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-old workers was 16.2 percent in April, Sanders is working on legislation. He asked unemployed young people to tell him their stories. There have been hundreds of responses.
VIDEO: College students Dan and Carmelo offer their insights on youth unemployment.
Lance, a 26-year-old recent college graduate from Nevada, wrote that he was unable to find an employer that would pay enough for him to afford his $96,000 in student loans. He filed for bankruptcy protection.
Even with college degrees and workplace experience, many cannot find full-time work. A 24-year-old chemical engineer interned for the U.S. Geological Survey and Environmental Protection Agency and then joined the Peace Corps after graduation. Despite his experience, he cannot find full-time employment and must work as a sandwich delivery driver to pay bills.
Robin, a parent from Illinois, wrote that her daughter recently graduated from a top engineering school. But government budget cuts have made it difficult to find gainful employment.
"We've watched as her opportunities have steadily declined. First, the hiring freeze in January at the government labs. Next, the hiring freeze for civilian employees of the military. Then came the sequester, and the aerospace companies like Lockheed, Northrop, and Boeing stopped hiring altogether…
She is considering removing her degree from her resume and applying at Walmart. It's breaking my heart."
“I’d been planning to go to graduate school,” said a 25-year-old Wisconsinite, “but I couldn’t secure enough loans.” After months of searching without luck, he is going back to school for a technical degree. “Best case scenario is that I will have wasted years of my life and $45,000 on my bachelor’s degree,” he wrote.
Advanced degrees do not guarantee employment either, according to a recent law school graduate from Pennsylvania. “My student loans are so high as to be impossible to pay back and I seriously consider the alternative of leaving the United States to avoid repaying them… My generation has all but given up on the idea of retirement.”
Those who could not afford a college degree also expressed frustration in their searches. John, a 21-year-old from Nevada, said “I ran out of funds for college after the first semester of my second year… I am now twenty-one and have no possible place to work but a McDonalds, which will not pay for my college tuition. Let alone books and other resources.”
