In his Ottawa Citizen column, William Watson writes that the current cohort of young workers, or “Generation Supposedly Screwed”, actually has things better than the group that entered the work force in the early 1980s. He cites figures used by MLI senior fellow Philip Cross to reveal that while many are concerned about the job prospects of young people, they are far better off today than following previous recessions.
Watson writes: “If you’re aged 15 to 24, the group we categorize as youth in the unemployment data (even though 15-year-olds have quite different labour market needs and expectations than 24-year-olds) you may have an excuse for lacking perspective: You were either not born or still in diapers in the early 1990s, while the 1980s are ancient history — and these days no one is required to know anything about any kind of history, ancient or otherwise. But if you’re in your 40s or 50s or 60s, what’s your excuse for not understanding that youth unemployment was worse in the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s?”
To read the full column click here.
