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Do you have any idea how many people were competing for limited jobs back then? Do you have any idea what it was like to have inflation at over 10% a year, and mortgage rates over 18%?
Are times different? Yes, but not necessarily harder. In many ways, easier, as so people are generally more educated today then they were in the 1970's.
Most Boomers were already into the job market when the economy went into its late-70s "malaise," and although inflation and interest were high, getting a job was still easier than it is today...which is the topic of this thread.
Most Boomers were already into the job market when the economy went into its late-70s "malaise," and although inflation and interest were high, getting a job was still easier than it is today...which is the topic of this thread.
Exactly, people these days cant even "get their foot in the door" regarding the economy and "moving up"..... instead they get stuck renting apartments, driving old beaters, barely scraping by, defering their student loan payments, etc.
And they can just forget about buying a house or starting a family, at least not for a good 10-15 years.
The economy is much larger and more diverse today than it was when the baby boomers were getting their start. But, the gains today are going to the top, instead of being distributed evenly. There is no instruction manual on how to get by in America today. 40 years ago, you just visited your local factory if you were down on your luck. They were actually hiring people back then.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Originally Posted by CuriousMiscer
Exactly, people these days cant even "get their foot in the door" regarding the economy and "moving up"..... instead they get stuck renting apartments, driving old beaters, barely scraping by, defering their student loan payments, etc.
And they can just forget about buying a house or starting a family, at least not for a good 10-15 years.
As I outlined earlier, that is not the case, as my kids are the perfect example of. Son is a highly qualified tradesman with a stay at home wife, who is a professional who earned more than him before children. Daughter is a stay at home mom, also a professional, whose husband has a grad degree. Both families are on their third home now, both drive newer, paid for vehicles, both constrain their spending to necessities, not wants, and focus it on their children.
It's choices that are made. As example, when my daughter first got married, they lived in a basement suite, with a mattress on the floor, and a futon for guests in the living room. Both had jobs. I asked why. Her answer was, "We have decided to live like students and save money to buy a house".
Choices. That meant taking jobs below their what their education level dictated, however, that was at least somewhat in the same area. It got the foot in the door, and through those contacts, all other jobs they got were because of word of mouth. Don't forget, the vast majority of jobs are NOT advertised. Even public sector jobs, although they need to go through the human resources steps, will name hire if they know a person and their capabilities.
Trained as a teacher but not getting a job? Try volunteering for sports teams in assisting coaching. Get to know the staff and administrators. Get on the substitute teachers list. Work the pre-schools jobs. Start small.
Trained in environmental studies and not getting a job? Try volunteering with a group that you know has interaction with industry or government. Get on a committee that works with those employers. Show you know what you are talking about, and you will become aware of the jobs that become available. Perhaps they will only be term jobs at first, but those always will lead to permanent ones in time.
If your strategy is to jump into your ideal job right away, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Your parents did not get their ideal job for some time after they started their work career, and I bet changed directions more than once. You may have to take that minimum wage job just to keep the wolf from the door, but ensure you use some of the other strategies suggested above.
I'm a boomer and I never had a problem getting a job. And college was much more affordable. The most I ever paid was $34 for a credit hour. My bachelor's degree cost me about $8,000.
1. The Boomer Generation began entering the job market in the early 60s while the US was still the global industrial leader
2. Although times strained in the latter 70s, the real weaknesses would not show until the latter 80s
3. Then there was the reprieve of the tech bubble well into the 90s.
So even though the roots of the 2007 recession were fast growing underneath the surface, Boomers did okay while in the age group of Millenials today.
Today, however, is actually equally tough on everyone. Boomers without technical certifications or really good networks who fall out of work today and are not quite old enough (or prepared enough) to retire also have it tough. And that is precisely also true of Millennials.
Yes, all good points. The only quibble I have is I think there were some pretty nasty recessions in 1973-1974 as well as 1980 and 1981-1982. In between those recessions, inflation was still high and unemployment pretty elevated.
t was much easier to get a decent paying job without a college degree at that time. Much harder now.
If that were true, then all your "college" grads should be able to do the jobs of those high school grads from the last generation. So what's wrong with starting them out in the retail/service sector?
People think they are entitled for better jobs today just because they have a college degree? In case no one told them, a degree does not confer experience or skill. It doesn't even confer "knowledge", it just confers information.
Some people do have an entitlement attitude because of their college degrees, but it's not unreasonable to want a better paying job than a retail job if you have a college degree. I mean, isn't that the point of going to college in the first place? Most people know these degrees don't confer knowledge. But college is an expensive and time consuming hoop to jump through that employers require. People want the time and money they spent on college to be worth it, and who can blame them for that?
Imagine a world without cable television, cell phones, the internet, personal computers or even technology outside IBM.
Right out of high school I could afford a studio apartment at 260 Mariposa Avenue in Mountain view, CA working a full time 4:00 PM to 12:30 AM manufacturing job earning $1.90 an hour and I didn't have a roommate. $1.90 in 1967 was equivalent to about $13.71 today so let's hear the rah, rah, rah for all those great manufacturing jobs we all had way back then.
The biggest difference between then and now isn't the jobs or money it is where we have to spend money today. It is choices we make where everyone must have a computer, everyone must have internet, everyone must have a cell phone and who doesn't have to have cable television? We all know these are must have items.
I think you're contradicting yourself. In 1965 you could afford your own apartment in Mountain View on $13.71 an hour. Today, that's impossible. You can barely afford to rent a room on that wage. So even if people skip all the stuff you consider extras, they are still struggling to get by in Mountain View on the equivalent wage today.
Not only did you have a manufacturing market back then but the process of getting a job was simpler and easier.
If you wanted a job, they discussed your skills and background. Nowadays, if you want a job, you have to go through endless hoops of mock psychology sessions while enduring HR incompetency. You can be a perfect match for the job but if your answers aren't 100% the same as what they have on their cheat sheet, you're pretty much screwed.
That's partly because in the 1970s people weren't as sue happy as they are today. So employers are much less willing to take a chance on someone, for which I can't say I blame them.
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