Youth Radio - Topic: Economy

The Recession Hits Home

rgee — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:34:13 -0600

This story was originally published on L.A. Youth.

By Jennifer Gonzales-Romero

My mom, my brother and I used to go to the movies or eat out almost every weekend. We weren’t rich but I could tell my mom wasn’t struggling because she could always afford to take us out. Things changed in June 2009 when my mom was laid off from her job as an assistant property manager for a property management office.

I never thought she’d lose her job because she’d been working there for eight years. But since she didn’t look worried, I didn’t worry either. My mom had savings and the government gave her unemployment—money you get from the government every two weeks after you’ve been laid off. But she still made sure to budget her money.

We didn’t eat out or go to the movies as often. Out of habit, I’d ask my mom to buy me clothes when we were at the store but she said she couldn’t. So I would mostly ask my dad whenever I went over to his house because he had a job. Many times my junior year I’d come home after band practice and see my mom on her laptop looking for jobs, but she wasn’t having much luck. I didn’t think it would take two years for her to find a job and that she’d struggle to pay her bills.

The summer before senior year, I researched colleges. My dream school was the University of La Verne because I thought its small class sizes would be better for me. Tuition cost $31,300 a year but I thought financial aid would cover everything since my mom was unemployed. By the end of the summer I knew that I couldn’t depend on my parents to buy me new clothes and pay for my senior year expenses so I kept my summer job at Little Caesars.

In late September my mom started dating an old classmate from New Orleans. He and his daughter moved here and my mom and them moved into a three-bedroom home. My brother and I stayed in our apartment and my dad moved in with us so we could continue going to school in South Gate. My mom and her boyfriend got married in December.

My mom started to worry

At the beginning of 2011, I started to notice that my mom was struggling. Her mail was still sent to the apartment where I lived with my dad, so she would call almost every other day asking me whether her unemployment check had arrived. When I would say no she would say “OK” in a worried voice. She had been receiving unemployment for a year and a half and to keep getting it she had to prove she was still looking for a job. She told me she was worried that they wouldn’t believe she was having trouble finding one and that they would cut her off.Her husband wasn’t working either because he was having trouble finding a job in construction. I felt bad.

One day in March, I was doing homework in my mom’s room. She was sitting on her bed going through papers when she told me she was behind with her car payments. She started crying and said that she didn’t know how she was going to pay for her car and for rent. It hurt me to see her cry and I started tearing up too. I wanted to help her but I didn’t know how. I knew that if she couldn’t pay her car loan that they would take her car away, but she needed it. How else would she go to job interviews or pick my brother and me up so we could stay at her house?

In April, my mom scored a temporary job as an assistant property manager. I was hoping that they would keep her permanently. But after five weeks they didn’t need her anymore, so she went back to looking for a job. Around the same time I noticed that my mom’s husband was borrowing her car more often. I asked my mom what happened and she said he sold his car and they used the money to pay for rent. Still, I didn’t think their situation was so bad because they still had their home and money to buy food. But now that I look back, my mom had been worrying about a lot of bills.

In May I decided that I wanted to get my prom dress made so that it would be unique. I asked my mom if she could help pay for it since my dad had offered to pay $100. I think she knew how much it meant to me so without any hesitation she said she could pay $100 too. I was so excited. I didn’t feel bad for asking because if she had said no, I would have understood. I wanted prom to be perfect and I was just thinking about that.

A couple of weeks later my mom picked up my brother and me from my dad’s house, and I gave her three letters from the unemployment office. When she read them, she looked worried. I asked her what was wrong and she said that they were no longer going to give her unemployment. When she started driving she remained quiet and looked like she was thinking. Then she started crying and said that she had a lot of bills to pay and she didn’t know what she was going to do.

I thought about saying, “It will be OK, things will get better” but it didn’t seem right because I didn’t know whether things would get better. My brother and I kept quiet for the rest of the car ride. I wanted to offer her money but the only money I had I was going to use to buy my prom ticket. I didn’t want to be selfish but I didn’t want to miss out on one of my most memorable high school experiences. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find a job. She had a college degree, she was outgoing and hardworking, so why wouldn’t anyone hire her? She couldn’t help pay for my prom dress The next day she called and told me that she was having trouble paying rent and that they were going to move into a one-bedroom apartment. She told me she couldn’t give me the $100 anymore. I understood and told her it was OK. But now I didn’t have enough money either so I didn’t know what I was going to do.

My next paycheck wasn’t until the day of prom. I didn’t want to ask my dad for money because he couldn’t afford it and I knew he would get mad that my mom couldn’t contribute since they always split the expenses for me and my brother. My mom suggested I use some of the money I had saved for college from selling pastelitos, a Central American meat pocket, at school. I didn’t want to but it was the only way I could get money fast. I promised myself I would pay back every cent after my next few paychecks. Then my mom asked me if she could borrow $120 from my pastelito money. I was shocked she was asking me for money, but I said yeah. It showed how badly she needed it if she was asking me.

Although it hurt to hear what my mom was going through, it felt nice to finally have a way to help her. I had fun at prom because I was hanging out with my boyfriend and my best friend and her date. I was excited prom was finally happening and graduation was approaching. Around the same time, I found out that the University of La Verne was going to give me about $24,000 in grants and scholarships, which left me with about $11,000 to pay myself or through loans for the rest of the tuition, books, food and personal expenses.

One of the loans had to be taken out by one of my parents, and it was the loan with the most money, $4,000. I asked my parents but they didn’t want to take out the loan because my dad had bad credit and my mom had no income. I understood but it meant that I would be able to take out only $7,000 in loans so I would have to work part-time while going to school. I hoped I would make enough money to pay for my phone, gas and other expenses.

In June my mom went for a second job interview as a payroll clerk. I knew how hard my mom was looking for a job and I was hoping that they would hire her. After the interview she picked me up so we could open a checking account. She said they would call her later in the day to tell her whether she got the job. When we were opening the account with a banker, they called her. She stepped outside the banker’s cubicle while I finished opening my account. When she was done she came in crying with a smile on her face. I knew it was good news. She said they gave her the job and she would start next week. I was happy so I gave her a hug.

Afterward, we picked up my little brother and celebrated her new job by going to a restaurant to eat tacos. Now that my mom has a job, things have gotten better for her. She and her husband moved into a three-bedroom apartment and she’s been paying her bills off. She also has extra money again so she and her husband go out to eat on weekends sometimes. When my mom lost her job I was busy with my own life—just worrying about school, being in band and college applications. But as I watched my mom struggle, I realized how hard it is to make money and how the economy could affect even those who are good at budgeting their money or have a college degree.

Seeing my mom struggle makes me worry about whether I will get a job after I graduate from college. I realize now that it’s hard for a lot of people to get jobs, especially young people because we’re inexperienced. I now know how expensive life is when you’re an adult I’m scared about one day living on my own because I will have to pay for rent, groceries, utilities, the Internet, cable and all this other stuff. My job at Little Caesars is minimum wage and I couldn’t support myself on that.

Looking back, I could have asked my mom if she had enough money to pay all her bills. If I knew that earlier, I could have understood that she was struggling. If I had saved my money from my job instead of spending it on clothes, I think I could have paid for my prom dress myself. Now, I’m more appreciative of what my parents are able to give me. My mom has agreed to pay for my car insurance. I appreciate her help because I know it’s hard for her since she is still trying to pay off her bills.

To thank my dad, I’m helping around the house more and contributing to some house expenses since he is letting me live with him for free while I go to college. I wish my mom didn’t have to go through that financial struggle, but I’m glad I’ve learned from it. Save money for emergencies. Make sure I don’t go into debt. This is the perfect time to realize that before I’m living on my own.

[Excerpt] Youth Unemployment Since Lehman Brothers Collapse: Greece Compared To U.S.

rgee — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:10:38 -0600

As we look back on 2011, youth unemployment in European countries like Greece and Spain has almost reached 50 percent, according to the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in the United States, youth unemployment (ages 16 - 25) has decreased since January 2011 from 18.1 percent to 16.8 percent. The Reuters chart above shows European youth unemployment over the past 20 years demarcated by some economic triggers, including the Lehman Brothers collapse.

This event took a toll on the global economy, but since then, unemployment for young people in Greece and Spain has increased close to ten percent every year. Since the collapse in September 2008, youth unemployment in the U.S. has increased3 percent overall.

In Greece, you can start working at the age of 15 and in Spain at the age of 16, the same as in the U.S. These numbers represent those from the minimum working age up to 25.

Since the Lehman Brothers collapse, France and Germany’s youth unemployment rates have either stayed relatively level or decreased.

Check out a chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows unemployment rates by month over the last ten years for 16 - 24 year-olds.

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Unemployment Rate - 16-24 yrs. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Young Men Among Hardest Hit By Unemployment Study Says

denise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:41:01 -0600

According to a story in Monday's Wall Street Journal, young men have it roughest in the down economy. The WSJ reports that:

- 14.4% of men between the ages of 25 and 35 with high school diplomas are unemployed, up from 6.1 percent just four years ago.

- High school grads younger than 25 suffer even worse. Their rate of unemployment has risen from 10.4 percent four years ago to 22.4 percent today.

- According to the Census Bureau, 18.6% of young men live with their parents, the highest rate since the 60’s.

[Opinion] Occupy Wall Street: Can Big Business Be The Answer, Not The Bad Guy?

rgee — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:45:06 -0500

Read Turnstyle News' Full Occupy Wall Street Coverage

Delanie Ricketts, Turnstyle News

I don’t believe all big business is bad business. While I identify with Occupy Wall Street protesters’ grievances with corporate America, I have a different vision of what needs to change. I see business as our most valuable ally in the quest for social justice. And in a bad economy, I see job opportunities for myself in that world too.

I didn’t always feel that way. I knew I wanted to study poverty ever since I moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 5^th grade. As my family and I drove to our future home, my ten-year-old self was baffled by the endless string of shacks, pollution, and people living on less than a dollar a day. I thought to myself, “Is this where we’ll be living?” But as expats, of course, we lived in a very nice, manicured condo.

Nonetheless, right outside my window poverty stared me right in the face. Why was it that I could live a life of luxury while my neighbors could not? After moving back to the United States, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I saw myself working for an NGO to right the injustice and inequity I experienced in Jakarta. Once I enrolled as a student at the University of California Berkeley, this dream became complicated.

As part of my liberal arts major, I decided to take a business class. It was in this class that I started thinking differently about big business. I discovered, with readily available capital and power worldwide, corporations can be extremely valuable actors in the effort to end poverty, despite a focus on profits. Although many people, including some of my peers here at UC Berkeley, are skeptical of businesses that claim to be making a difference, I am optimistic. My optimism is fed by the huge amount of people I see already working towards making businesses become more socially responsible.

To me, Occupy Wall Street represents a whole movement of people dedicated to demanding that corporations become more socially just. As more and more businesses decide to meet these demands, I see more and more opportunities for myself to create a career advising companies how to change. I don't see that as selling out, but being part of the solution. Already in my business class this semester, I'm spending time analyzing social justice efforts in major companies.

One of my assignments was to write recommendations to Apple for their future Supplier Responsibility report. Through my research, I learned a lot -- mainly that while Apple isn’t perfect, it appears to be making serious efforts to be socially responsible, dispelling the myth, at least for me, that all big business is bad business. Corporate America doesn’t have to be our enemy, especially if future CEO's and leaders of NGO's are already at the table together in business school classes like mine.

Graph: Female Grads Outnumber Male Grads

rgee — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:20:56 -0500

By Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a think-tank that provides a forum for governments to come together and problem solve, released new data that shows female graduates outnumber their male counterparts in 32 out of the 34 member countries.

Estonia has the highest overall percentage of female graduates as well as the highest percentage of women studying STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- fields. (Check out Turnstyle's reporting on theories about why women are the minority in STEM-related fields.)

The United States has about as many female graduates in STEM fields as Germany and Turkey. In terms of women graduating with degrees in the Arts and Humanities, the U.S. is near the bottom of this list. In the majority of OECD countries, women are most likely to graduate in health and welfare related fields. China, oddly, doesn't have specific data for the fields that their women graduate in, according to this chart.

Via the Economist.

Young People Stand Behind Planned Parenthood

denise — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:16:21 -0500

Talking about sex may not be the most comfortable conversation for people, but it’s definitely something young people are talking about more than ever. Students of Wesleyan University created the “I Have Sex” video as their way to protest against the cuts that would target Planned Parenthood. The video shows young people holding a sign and admitting that they are sexually active and on birth control.

Planned Parenthood provides affordable forms of birth control and contraceptives, sex-ed programs, free cancer screenings, pap smears, gynecological exams, free STI and STD testing and other health services.

Not Easy For Japanese Youth To Get Ahead

rgee — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:26:50 -0600

In the U.S., there are certain sectors of the workforce that are very youth-centric. We even have companies like Mr. Youth that strive to make the work environment accommodating to young people. This is not the case in Japan. There, stark generational inequalities are pushing young people to leave the country, remain in school, or face unemployment.

According to the New York Times, the interests of older workers in Japan are protected, whereas younger workers often remain on temporary contracts without benefits and lower salaries for a long time. In Japan, the young people have been hit the hardest by the global economic downturn.

The Times article states, “A nation that produced Sony, Toyota and Honda has failed in recent decades to nurture young entrepreneurs, and the game-changing companies that they can create, like Google or Apple — each started by entrepreneurs in their 20s.”

Last Minute Politics: Party Leaders Debate Youth Hot Topics

rgee — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:07:58 -0500

Midterm elections are here! Still don’t know who or what to vote for? The Midterm Youth Debate took place yesterday, which featured Democratic and Republican party leaders answering questions posed by youth. The debate airs tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on youthdebate.org.

Anthony Tedesco of Portable Heroes is founder and producer of the Presidential Youth Debates, and has put together a debate every year since 1996. Since then, he’s had every presidential candidate participate. The questions for these debates are submitted by people ages 13 - 30. “In every debate we’ve included future voters. If you get them engaged at an early age, they are more likely to become lifelong voters,” said Tedesco.

These are the issues that the party leaders responded to:
·      The two budget items they wouldn't cut
·      Three issues they would work in cooperation with their opposing party to resolve
·      What they will do to ensure equality and civil rights are taken seriously
·      When young Americans can expect to retire
·      What went wrong with the Gulf oil spill and how we can make sure it never happens again
·      When each party thinks we will move out of Iraq and Afghanistan
·      How both parties will work together to solve the health care crisis

You can view a written transcription of Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine’s response to the question of civil rights and the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy here.

Tedesco said, “We reached out in non-partisan ways to solicit the questions - through Rock the Vote, youth media organizations, and student associations. It’s important to tie politics to something that youth care about, and give them the information they need to make a decision.”

Youth Political Energy Is High As Elections Approach

rgee — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:17:15 -0500

The November elections are just around the corner. According to Bakari Kitwana of the Huffington Post, the 18 - 29 age demographic will be extremely important once again. However, he makes the argument, “Over the last two years President Barack Obama did not fulfill his campaign commitments to the 14 million plus young voters so crucial to his 2008 victory.”

He explains that the youth sent Obama to the White House to make change happen, and now they have to decide if he’s done enough. Are the changes to health care, student loans, the economy, and the war in Iraq big enough signs of change?

While we can’t predict which way the elections will go, we can see the political energy still surging through young people around the country.

The College Republicans National Committee (CRNC) has been actively recruiting new Republican voters. “We’ve put field representatives in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to work with the local college representatives to recruit, train, and engage college students for statewide victory purposes,” said Rob Lockwood, Communications Director for the CRNC.

Lockwood said they focused their recruiting efforts in these battleground states and have succeeded in recruiting 25,200 new college Republicans in these states alone. He said young voters are especially important to this election. “It’s been proven that the college years are the most formative in shaping a political opinion. Because young people voted in record numbers in 2008, it’s important to get them to the polls again. We believe young people voted for the power of personality in 2008. They were energized. They voted for hope and change. However, neither of those has been implemented. The only change they got is massive debt on their tab, in exchange for short term political gain,” said Lockwood.

Likewise, the College Democrats of America (CDA) are busy recruiting young people to vote. Alejandra Salinas, President of the CDA said they have targeted certain states. “In Texas, we only had eight chapters last year. This year we have 45,” she said. She also cited the numbers of young voters in 2008 as a powerful sign. “We all learned in 2008 that the power is with the people who show up to vote. We elected democratic people who stood up for student rights issues such as credit card reform, health care reform, and student loan reform. These changes have improved the lives of young people across the country,” she said.

Salinas said the CDA is focusing on conveying the message that the Democrats have fulfilled their promises. “The Democrats have delivered on hope and change and we have to make sure that message has been communicated. If we get the message out, young people will be convinced that they need to get back out there and vote.”

In order to convey their message, the CRNC created a website called ourtab.org, with the slogan, "Don't Put It On Our Tab," which is a visualization of the national debt growing. “It has been extremely effective and gotten lots of positive response. It’s an initiative to inform young voters,” said Lockwood. He explained that the Republicans are running on a platform of financial efficiency, conservancy, and transparency.

“In 2008, the administration added 5 trillion dollars to the national debt. Young people are realizing that they are in danger of picking up the debt. If they cannot find work, they can’t pay off their debt. We need financial reform,” said Lockwood.

Meanwhile, organizations like The League of Young Voters and Rock the Vote are busy making sure that young people stay involved in politics.

Rock the Vote posted on its blog, “With the passage of voter registration deadlines in over 26 states across the nation, Rock the Vote surpassed its goal for registering young voters this fall. As of Oct. 4, Rock the Vote more than 225,000 individuals have used Rock the Vote’s tool to register to vote in the Nov. 2 midterm elections. This figure exceeded our 2010 goal of 200,000 registrations, more than quadrupled the number of registrations processed in 2006, and represents the largest midterm registration effort in our organization’s history.”

The League of Young Voters Education Fund kicked off the BET Hip-Hop Awards with an event called, “IGNITE 2010: From the Blogs to the Blocks.” This event was to discuss the role of new media and hip hop has to play in the important youth issues.

How to Make College Bound Students Financial Pros

denise — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:29:01 -0500

By: Ariel Edwards-Levy

The following was broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition on August 26, 2010

When Fahiya Rashid started college at UC Irvine, she thought she knew most of the financial traps to avoid. Chatting at an LA coffee shop, she says her father's experience taught her to watch her spending.

"When he was in college, he went crazy," says Rashid. "He had, like, 18 different credit cards. He took student loans. And now he's almost 50 and he's still paying that money back. And there's not a stop to it. So he taught me, just limit yourself to one or two cards, and spend very wisely. Don’t spend money you don’t have.”

But during her freshman year, Rashid says she faced an unexpected problem.

"When you start school, they give you a whole bunch loans. They're like, 'OK, take this, take that, take this.' I was under the impression that I needed all of that money, so I said yes to every single one of them, which is a bad idea, of course."

She returned as many of the unnecessary loans as possible -- about three thousand dollars worth. Rashid figures the less she borrows now, the better off she'll be after years of compounding interest.

Problems like hers are common, says financial expert Kathy Kristof, because students aren't taught about money. "Most of them are pretty clueless when they first start college, unless their parents have really done a great job of educating them about finance all along. We just don't get much financial education in high school, and then parents send their kids off to college kind of like pushing them out of the nest."

Kristof, who wrote the book Taming the Tuition Tiger, says the biggest mistake students make is getting into too much debt, especially by taking out private student loans. She says the loans are easy to confuse with federal loans. But they have much higher interest rates.

There are other financial lessons that have to be learned through experience. USC student Arlene Washington says living on her own taught her how to budget. She learned to save money for hidden fees on things like student government, as well as for smaller purchases.

"When you're living with your parents, you don't know everything that comes into what you need to support yourself. So when you're on your own, there might be certain things, even as little as toilet tissue."

She says her best lessons in finance came from her job on campus: "Because you know you would get your check at a certain time of the month. And then after you get that check you say to yourself, 'Well, how much can I spend and how much do I need to use on certain things monthly?' Whether it be bills or different things. I need to buy food. Things like that."

Financial expert Kristof says making sure kids have jobs is one way parents can teach them about money. But it has to be part of a larger conversation.

"If you've been all along, all through high school, talking to your kids about money, it's good to let them fly solo right now and take the responsibility for their finances. If you know you haven't done that, you want to wean them from your protection over time."

Kristof sees no fast way to make college bound students financial pros. But she says learning how to manage money is as important as what you learn in the classroom.