[The Practician]

I'm going to jump on the "lost generation" life story bandwagon here, for all you interested in knowing just what all us twentysomthings are up to these days.

I'm 26, and I haven't had a real, steady job since the start of the recession. Back then I was a carpentry apprentice/first aid attendant with a construction company and had been there a few years. The pay was alright, but I started thinking I didn't like it all that much and was having fun playing in a band, and I was still young, had just broken up with my girlfriend, so I quit, and went to getting work through a construction labour temp agency. That is really crappy work if you are just out on a labour ticket at $11 an hour, but a first aid attendant ticket got 18. Try and find a flexible part time job that pays that well, and you probably wont. At the time I didn't really see the effects of the recession or care that much because there were still lots of projects going on-- only more recently, with no more projects on the books, are things starting to look really grim for the industry. I got hired on with a company at good wages in 2009 but was laid off a mere 2 or 3 months later when a couple of projects fell through. Tried landscaping for a bit--garden and lawn maintenance, really-- but my attitude towards lawn care is more Sayyid Qutb than Hank Hill. Since last year I have worked in a bike store, temp labour, Contract office furniture swamper/installer, a bit of shoe repair(a trade I picked up after high school), and most recently during the summer as service tech at a medical mobility place/general handyman for the owner.

I'm back at College now, which I started part time last spring. Taking Sciences and math, getting my English upgraded. In fact, I wasn't exactly peak oil aware until I came across it while looking for information on the viability of running our current transport structure on "clean energy" for a research paper. All the biofuels/windmills/solar hype in the mainstream media had me smelling a rat, because you don't have to be "peak aware" to have an understanding of the concepts of limits to growth and the finiteness of any given resource.

Maybe College wouldn't be the best use of my time right now if I was worried about the fact that there probably aren't going to be as many "good jobs" that require degrees in the near future. I understand that my prospects are not the same as they were a generation ago. I don't care. I already know how to work hard doing skilled and unskilled manual labour, and now is my last chance to maybe figure my way into a less labour intensive or at least somewhat more cerebral line of work, and maybe snag a place in the "new" middle class: no car, no oversize suburban house, and a great deal less conspicuous consumption in general, but some sort of job security and a relatively comfortable existence. I am going to College to develop what I think of as useful skills and knowledge, not acquire some degree or certificate that marks me as suitable for a position as a desk monkey, or some other specialized task. I am a dedicated generalist, and I think that is going to be an advantage in the coming years and decades of decline.

[PrestonSturges]

My advice to young people is to be aware of what they did for fun that required discipline and skill, and look at that as a possible career. Taking martial arts? Well maybe you should really devote yourself to for a couple years with the intention of becoming an instructor. Don't think giving up your interests is part of "growing up."

Also, think of solutions to problems you face. Have you ever made something for yourself? Would you be able to sell something similar to your friends? Start making stuff and take it through 5 or 10 versions.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The Practician', '
'). ..... I am going to College to develop what I think of as useful skills and knowledge, not ...some other specialized task. I am a dedicated generalist, and I think that is going to be an advantage in the coming years and decades of decline.

[Pops]

Younger people generally replace older workers but the positions those older workers held have either been eliminated or the older workers are holding on because they have no savings and or insurance.

I feel for the family with unemployment at both ends.

In fact preparing for unemployment due to PO was the main reason to buy the farm and naming it 'My Grandkids' Farm' pretty well explains where I think the job market might wind up in a decade or two. Could be that Zombies turn Highwaymen but the more likely doom scenario is the magic conservation tool known as massive unemployment just keeps ratcheting up until, low and behold, constricted energy supplies are the least of our worries.


My kids are early thirties and both boys have done OK in the service, one enlisted just before 9/11, one after - both are considered Lifers now. I told them to stay in as long as they'll feed you!

When PO decline becomes too steep to mask with all and sundry types of flammable and sorta-flammable liquids, the size of the typical household will quickly grow to something similar to what it was 'back when'. The problem of course is that 'back when' there were actually ways to contribute to the family unit even if a person was without an income - today not so much. Another mouth to feed doesn't really balance out when the contribution is mowing the lawn and loading the dishwasher.

More and more I find articles like this pretty depressing since they confirm for me that things really aren't OK and that it isn't just my doomer personality coloring my outlook. The worst part is this is just what the slippery slide-ers have been predicting all along (as opposed to the SHTF proponents).

The more depressing idea to me is not that there will be a 'Lost Generation' of corporate-climbing-money-monkeys, that assumes the next generation will be better off. It may well be that this is the Last Generation with any chance of an easy, secure lifestyle.

[perdition79]

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything on this forum, but this one hits home. I'm 32, and I've worked such varied occupations as restaurant manager, day trader, truck driver, tax preparer, and electrical apprentice. I'm currently looking for work as an electrical apprentice again, while doing jobs completely unrelated to the electrical field to make ends meet. I've realized something important: Knowledge is forever. It's been months since I've done electrical work, but I still think it. It's been over a decade since I made a living trading stocks, but I still think of the markets. I can answer most non-business tax questions off the top of my head, and know where to look for the business questions.

I've decided that there's no such thing as a "lost generation", so long as members of a particular generation never stop learning. All the bits of knowledge we can pick up in our spare time will serve us until we die, even if it's just something that's only useful in conversation. If I can't find a good job soon, I'll stick to a part-time job and will be back in college by January, finishing my degree in electrical engineering. And with what I learned about student loans, grants and scholarships as a tax preparer, there's a very good chance I can get away with paying back very little money on loans. I might even go for a master's degree.

[The Practician]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The Practician', '
'). ..... I am going to College to develop what I think of as useful skills and knowledge, not ...some other specialized task. I am a dedicated generalist, and I think that is going to be an advantage in the coming years and decades of decline.

[Bruce_S]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'M')y advice to young people is to be aware of what they did for fun that required discipline and skill, and look at that as a possible career.

[FairMaiden]

Given the level of properity of during the boomer's time, you would think they would be retiring early...unless you conclude they are not finanically prudent. I do know a lot of my peers who had their post secondary education paid for in full by the their boomer parents, elaborate weddings and downpayments on houses.

I think what the baby boomers did was raise expectations for what people wanted to achieve in life.

What if we didn't expect to own big houses in the suburbs? Have a vacation every year? Pay for our children's college? Retire to Florida? Etc. What if we were happy in a condo instead of a house. What if we went camping for our annual vacation. What if we ate non-organic food all year and better yet, ate 1500 calories a day instead of 3000? What would be the level of income needed for that?

I graduated HS during a much smaller recession but felt the effects of it. My father passed away when I was 14 and my mother has a grade 7 education. So I definitely had no head starts in life. I didn't attend college but I am self taught (interesting how this seems to be a common meme here and on the site). I have owned businesses while working full time - even holding as many as 3 jobs at once to put a decent downpayment on my first place. I did well by pulling out before the .com bust and walking away at the high (just luck, I wanted to put it in real estate). Then real estate skyrocketed and got out of that. SO I've used my money well. I also saved money by riding bicycles for transportation, nevering owning cellphones, etc. I spent $204 in the entire first year of my first born's life by using hand-me-downs and cloth diapers. I conserve, recycle and reuse. I have a low level management position that pays well and has security. I took this position even tho it was step down bc of peak oil and wanting more security. Even tho the pay is worse, I work only 35 hours a week so it's nice to have more free time.

My husband sounds like Practioner just 10 years later. He gave up on all the odd jobs and went back to labour. Started off at $14/hr last year and is now making $23/hour bc he got promoted and receives incentives. He is realizing that his expectations needed to be readjusted and now he's happy - no stress and decent pay. It's in food (thanks to peak oil) so we hope it's got some security.

So yes, we have both struggled w/o post secondary in a small recession. I know exactly how these kids feel and remember how hard it was to get that first footing. At least they have degrees, we don't

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bruce_S', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'M')y advice to young people is to be aware of what they did for fun that required discipline and skill, and look at that as a possible career.

[The Practician]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bruce_S', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'M')y advice to young people is to be aware of what they did for fun that required discipline and skill, and look at that as a possible career.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'G')iven the level of properity of during the boomer's time, you would think they would be retiring early...unless you conclude they are not finanically prudent. I do know a lot of my peers who had their post secondary education paid for in full by the their boomer parents, elaborate weddings and downpayments on houses.

[FairMaiden]

My tone was certainly not clear - I wrote "you'd think" in a "it looks like this on the surface, but who knows?" tone. I honestly don't know how the boomers are doing...I'm going off my programming there.

The second paragragh wasn't able boomers - it was about changing expectations. I do all the things in that paragraph. I used to eat 3000 calories a day and now eat 1500 (I'm a woman so I was using #'s for women NOT men!) I know my hubby could a eat a lot less too...it's a radical thought you don't see often. Eat veggies instead of meat to save the planet...but how much is the 3000 mile salad costing us? I'd rather eat meat thanks! Just not so much of it anymore.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', '
')What if we didn't expect to own big houses in the suburbs? Have a vacation every year? Pay for our children's college? Retire to Florida? Etc. What if we were happy in a condo instead of a house. What if we went camping for our annual vacation. What if we ate non-organic food all year and better yet, ate 1500 calories a day instead of 3000? What would be the level of income needed for that?

[Loki]

Came across a book at the library yesterday that made me think of this thread. Tamara Draut's “Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead.” Published in 2005, but trends have stayed the same, amplified by the Great Recession.

She discusses debt among young adults, the costs of higher education, the crap job market, the skyrocketing price of housing, and the difficulties in raising a family under these economic pressures. A different take on things, lots of good facts and figures on the post-Boomer middle class (or lack thereof).

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Draut', 'I')n 1974, the typical earnings for males aged 25 to 34 years old with a high school diploma was $42,697 (in 2004 dollars). In 2004, the typical earnings for high school grads had dropped to $30,400. Typical earnings for young males with a bachelor's degree or higher have also declined, from $51,223 in 1974 to $50,700 in 2004.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'G')iven the level of properity of during the boomer's time, you would think they would be retiring early...unless you conclude they are not finanically prudent. I do know a lot of my peers who had their post secondary education paid for in full by the their boomer parents, elaborate weddings and downpayments on houses.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'G')iven the level of properity of during the boomer's time, you would think they would be retiring early...unless you conclude they are not finanically prudent. I do know a lot of my peers who had their post secondary education paid for in full by the their boomer parents, elaborate weddings and downpayments on houses.

[Unconventional Ideas]

It really is important to have a lot of outside interests beyond earning money. The future will be best for those who master this the best.

Life is always better with a curious mind.

[AgentR11]

Maybe its just that I am doing what I want to do, and getting paid for it...

[evilgenius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'G')iven the level of properity of during the boomer's time, you would think they would be retiring early...unless you conclude they are not finanically prudent. I do know a lot of my peers who had their post secondary education paid for in full by the their boomer parents, elaborate weddings and downpayments on houses.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'I') was just reading a blog about the popularity of early sixties era television shows today (Mad Men, Playboy Bunnies, etc) and the person was saying that one of the things they noticed was the pampering and easy very low production life men had back in that sexist time.