At 02:40 20/12/2012, AC wrote:
Dec. 18, 2012 NY Times
But this is no different, essentially, from what
has always happened -- or at least from the
earliest years of civilization when those adults
who became full-time craftsmen made sure that
they controlled the entry of young people into
their trade. For most of the post-WWII period
this exclusion of young people hasn't been all
that visible (except in the well-paid
professions) but it's now happening. But it was
also happening in recent prosperous years before
the 2008 crash. Well-paid jobs in the middle band
of the job market were already disappearing due
to computerization and automation.
It's the increased scale of youth unemployment
today that's becoming significant. But what about
Greece, with 60% unemployment among the 16-24
year-olds? Everybody (all economists, the IMF,
the ECB, etc) are agreeing that Greece doesn't
have a chance of ever reducing its debts to the
rest of the Eurozone. Are millions of Greeks ever
going to accept that they'll never have a job?
And the same is now happening in Spain with 40%
youth unemployment already and rising. And in
Italy with 30% and rising. I don't know what may
happen in America in the next few years but I
would expect nothing less than the most extreme
social disturbances in at least Greece, Spain and
Italy, equivalent to what is now going on in Egypt and Syria.
Keith
Young and Homeless: The Timess Susan Saulny
reports from Seattle where she talks with young
adults who are struggling with homelessness as a result of the recession.
SEATTLE Duane Taylor was studying the
humanities in community college and living in
his own place when he lost his job in a round of
layoffs. Then he found, and lost, a second job. And a third.
Now, with what he calls lowered standards and
a tenuous new position at a Jack in the Box
restaurant, Mr. Taylor, 24, does not make enough
to rent an apartment or share one. He sleeps on
a mat in a homeless shelter, except when his
sister lets him crash on her couch.
At any time I could lose my job, my security,
said Mr. Taylor, explaining how he was always
the last hired and the first fired. Id like to
be able to support myself. Thats my only goal.
Across the country, tens of thousands of
underemployed and jobless young people, many
with college credits or work histories, are
struggling to house themselves in the wake of
the recession, which has left workers between
the ages of 18 and 24 with the highest
<http://www.bls.gov>unemployment
rate<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-1>1
of all adults.
Those who can move back home with their parents
the so-called boomerang set are the lucky
ones. But that is not an option for those whose
families have been hit hard by the economy,
including Mr. Taylor, whose mother is barely
scraping by while working in a laundromat.
Without a stable home address, they are an
elusive group that mostly couch surfs or sleeps
hidden away in cars or other private places,
hoping to avoid the lasting stigma of public
homelessness during what they hope will be a temporary predicament.
These young adults are the new face of a
national homeless population, one that poverty
experts and case workers say is growing. Yet the
problem is mostly invisible. Most cities and
states, focusing on homeless families, have not
made special efforts to identify young adults,
who tend to shy away from ordinary shelters out
of fear of being victimized by an older,
chronically homeless population. The
unemployment rate and the number of young adults
who cannot afford college point to the fact
there is a dramatic increase in homelessness in
that age group, said Barbara Poppe, the
executive director of the
<http://www.usich.gov/>United States Interagency
Council on
Homelessness<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-2>2.
The Obama administration has begun an
<http://www.usich.gov/population/youth/a_framework_for_ending_youth_homelessness_2012/youth_count/>initiative<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-3>3
with nine communities, most of them big cities,
to seek out those between 18 and 24 who are
without a consistent home address. New York,
Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Boston are
among the cities included in the effort.
One of our first approaches is getting a more
confident estimate, said Ms. Poppe, whose
agency is coordinating the initiative.
Those who provide services to the poor in many
cities say the economic recovery has not
relieved the problem. Years ago, you didnt see
what looked like people of college age sitting
and waiting to talk to a crisis worker because
they are homeless on the street, said Andrae
Bailey, the executive director of the
<http://communityfoodoutreach.org/>Community
Food and Outreach
Center<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-4>4,
one of the largest charitable organizations in
Florida. Now thats a normal thing.
Los Angeles first attempted a count of young
adults living on the street in 2011. It found
3,600, but the city had shelter capacity for only 17 percent of them.
The rest are left to their own devices, said
Michael Arnold, the executive director of the
<http://www.lahsa.org/>Los Angeles Homeless
Services
Authority<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-5>5.
And when you start adding in those who are
couch surfing and staying with friends, that number increases exponentially.
Boston also attempted counts in 2010 and 2011.
The homeless young adult population seeking
shelter grew 3 percentage points to 12 percent
of the 6,000 homeless people served over that period.
Its a significant enough jump to know that
its also just the tip of the iceberg, said Jim
Greene, director of emergency shelters for the
Boston Public Health Commission.
In Washington,
<http://suite101.com/lance-fuller>Lance
Fuller<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-6>6,
a 26-year-old with a degree in journalism, spent
the end of last month packing up a one-bedroom
apartment he can no longer afford after being
laid off. Mr. Fuller said he had been unable to
keep a job for more than eight months since
graduating from the University of Florida in 2010.
Thankfully, I have a girlfriend who is willing
to let me stay with her until I get back on my
feet again, said Mr. Fuller, who writes a blog,
<http://lrfuller.wordpress.com/>Voices of a Lost
Generation<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-7>7.
Its really hard for people in my generation
not to feel completely defeated by this economy.
Mr. Taylor, the fast-food worker in Seattle,
said he felt lucky when he could find a coveted
space at
<http://www.rootsinfo.org/>Roots<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-8>8,
a shelter for young adults in a church basement. Such shelters are rare.
For generations, services for the homeless were
directed to two groups: dependent children and
older people. There was scant attention focused
on what experts now call transitional age
youth young adults whose needs are distinct.
I see them coming back day after day, more
defeated, more tired out, wondering, When will
it be my turn? said Kristine Cunningham,
executive director of Roots. And its
heartbreaking. This is the age when you want to
show the world you have value.
They need more than just clean clothes and
shelter to move into a secure adulthood, experts
say. They want a way out, said Ms. Poppe,
whose agency is also gathering evidence on what
kinds of programs and outreach work best. They
want an opportunity to develop skills so they
are marketable in the long term.
A more individualized approach seems to work, she added.
But two obstacles stand in the way: young
adults, eager for independence, are reluctant to
admit that they need help and housing. And
shelters designed with young adults in mind
those with career and trauma counseling, and
education and training programs are usually small.
Roots holds only 35 people, and a nightly
lottery decides who gets a spot, which includes
meals, laundry services and counseling. It is expanding to 45 beds.
Anna Wiley, 20, and her boyfriend, Bobby
Jollineau, 24, spent several nights at Roots two
weeks ago, but were unable to get in one night
in November. We ended up sleeping outside, Mr.
Jollineau said. I have a sleeping pad and a
really warm sleeping bag. Theres a couple of
nooks and crannies that are safe around here,
but you have to be careful. It can make for a rough night.
Asked whether she could go to her parents home,
Ms. Wiley said that her father is unemployed and
that her mother works in a deli, making about as little as she does.
I dont like relying on other people too much, anyway, she said.
Across town, Roman Tano, 20, woke up recently at
YouthCares
<http://www.youthcare.org/our-programs/shelter-and-housing/emergency-shelter>James
W. Ray Orion
Center<http://www.readability.com/articles/usdipztd#rdb-footnote-9>9,
another shelter for young adults that offers
training programs. In October, its capacity grew to 20 beds from 15.
Two months ago, Mr. Tano gave up an apartment in
his native Dallas after losing his job. He sold
his Toyota and sought opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.
He rented a room and set out with his résumé
(expertise: fund-raising). But when his $2,000
in savings withered to nothing, I ended up
sleeping on the street for the first time in my
life, he said. I just kind of had to walk around and try to stay warm.
Mr. Tano found the YouthCare shelter online, and
has been staying there for a month. He has a new
job as a canvasser for an environmental organization.
Coming into it, I was, like, completely out of
my element, he said of YouthCare. But in the
time Ive been here, its a pretty diverse group
of people. There are a lot of people just trying to work to get out of this.
After I get my paycheck, he said brightly, I should be on my way.
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