Unemployment skyrockets among youth
More than 7.7 million workers younger than 30 are now unemployed in the US. Over 3 million dropped out of the labor force over the course of a single month, from mid-April to mid-May. The number of young people now unemployed amounts to nearly one in three young workers, the highest rate since the country started tracking unemployment by age in 1948.
These figures are paralleled in countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic all around the world. In Australia, the youth unemployment rate has jumped to 13.8 percent. Youth unemployment rates in Australia were already more than double the overall unemployment rate of the country and were almost three times higher than for those 25 and older.
A report from the Resolution Foundation think tank recently found that youth unemployment in the UK could rise by 640,000 this year, bringing the total above 1 million. In Spain, half of all those who have lost jobs since the start of the outbreak have been adults under the age of 35. In Canada, the youth unemployment rate jumped to 27.2 percent in April, from 16.8 percent in March. Student unemployment was even higher.
Young workers are vastly over-represented in the sectors hardest hit by the lockdown and social distancing measures. These sectors include hospitality, food services, retail, arts and recreation. Nearly 40 percent of the young workers who are unemployed in the US worked in the devastated retail and food service sectors alone. The Millennial generation, those aged between 26 and 40, make up a majority of bartenders and half of restaurant workers.
According to a new report by Data for Progress, over half of people under the age of 45 say that the $1,200 cash payment from the US federal government covered just a week or two of expenses, compared with a third of older adults.
The US Labor Department continues to report that the majority of laid-off workers expect their joblessness to be temporary. However, there is growing concern among economists that many jobs will never come back.
Nicholas Bloom, an economist at Stanford University, recently told the New York Times that the path to recovery “is going to take longer and look grimmer than we thought.” Bloom is the co-author of an analysis of the pandemic’s effects on the labor market titled “COVID-19 Is Also a Reallocation Shock.” In it, he and his co-thinkers estimate that 42 percent of recent layoffs will result in permanent job loss.
A large body of research, along with the fresh experience of the 2008 recession, shows that young people, especially those without a college degree, are particularly vulnerable during economic downturns and recessions.
An analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that up to 57 million US jobs are now vulnerable, including a growing number of white-collar positions. Furthermore, the report finds that 86 percent of jobs made vulnerable by the pandemic pay less than $40,000 a year. In other words, those workers who were already in precarious situations are not only getting hit the hardest, many will be forced out of their industry altogether.
For those workers in the Millennial generation (now aged 26 to 40) and older, this is the second major economic catastrophe in barely a decade. The researchers note in their report that “the generation that first entered the job market in the aftermath of the Great Recession is now going through its second ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ downturn.”
If the 2008 financial crash is any indication, we can expect that the current economic downturn will exact a devastating toll on all workers, the youth in particular.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, youth unemployment soared to more than 60 percent in some European regions. In many countries, the youth unemployment rate never fully recovered to pre-recession levels. In the US, half of recent graduates were unable to find work during the recession years. Millennials’ official unemployment rate ranged as high as 20 or 30 percent.
The recession was used as an opportunity to make more fundamental changes to the economy that would leave young workers hounded by high rates of underemployment, low wages and stagnant earnings trajectories for the following decade.
Full-time salaried positions were slashed with the introduction of “gig” economy work. Nearly 95 percent of the jobs created during the Obama administration, from 2009 to 2017, were part-time, contract, on-call or temporary. This piecemeal work, cynically sold to the younger generation as “flexible” work, often excludes health care, retirement benefits, sick days and other benefits, and is highly unreliable.
It has already become commonplace for workers to hold down two or three part-time jobs in order to make ends meet and provide for their families.
To get a sense of the scale of the economic crisis pre-pandemic, one should consider that in 2019 some 61 percent of US workers were reporting that they did not have enough savings to cover a $1,000 emergency room visit or car repair. One in five Millennials reported not being able to afford routine health care expenses, and nearly half had nothing saved. This situation is being dramatically worsened by the impact of the pandemic.
In 2018, taking note of the devastating toll the recession had taken on a whole generation of young workers, the Wall Street Journal noted that Millennials were at risk of becoming “America’s Lost Generation.” Similar warnings have already begun to circulate in regard to the emerging generation, known as Gen Z.
However, as the Journal itself nervously pointed out at the time, the Millennial generation in the US was also the first generation to favor socialism over capitalism. The dire conditions facing young people, which are more and more understood to be the consequence of decaying social order, have created the objective basis for a vast radicalization of young people and workers across the globe. The two years prior to the onset of the pandemic were marked by the reemergence of the class struggle internationally, in which young workers played leading roles.
Generation Z is now coming of age under conditions that far outstrip those which the Millennials confronted in the aftermath of 2008. The events of the day will not pass by this new generation, or the older generations, for that matter, without leaving a profound and revolutionary political impact.
The younger generation is coming of age in a world of immense contradictions, with enormous developments in technology and science occurring simultaneously with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of workers internationally as a result of the criminal response of the ruling class to the pandemic. Trillions of dollars are being poured into the coffers of the global corporate elites while young people’s schools are defunded and their jobs destroyed.
Instability and uncertainty are among the defining features of everyday life. Under such conditions, there is no doubt that the popularity of socialism among young people will continue to grow at a rapid pace. Far from becoming the “Lost Generation” as predicted by the Wall Street Journal, the emerging generation of young workers carries within it an enormous revolutionary force.
THIS 'INDIAN' CAN'T OPEN HER LAWYER MOUTH WITHOUT MORE LIES FALLING OUT!
Sen. Warren: Yes, a Pathway to Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants Who Are in U.S.
(CNS News) -- When asked whether illegal aliens should be given a pathway to citizenship, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, “people who are here should have a pathway to citizenship.”
She added that it is “not clear” whether President Joe Biden has been successful in dealing with the southwest border crisis.
At the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, CNS News asked the senator, “Should illegal aliens be given a pathway to citizenship?”
Senator Warren said, “I believe that people who are here should have a pathway to citizenship.”
“And does that include illegal aliens?” CNS News asked again.
“I just gave you my position on this, did you not understand?” the senator responded.
In a follow-up question, CNS News asked, “And do you believe that our southwest border is secure now?”
Senator Warren said, “I believe that the Biden administration is trying to deal with the fallout of the chaos that Donald Trump caused down at the border. Whether they have been entirely successful yet or not is not clear.”
Senate Democrats are pursuing a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 8 million illegal aliens, or “undocumented immigrants,” as part of a $3.5 trillion budget resolution aimed at achieving many items on President Joe Biden’s agenda. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said they will act on the resolution before the extended August recess.
As part of the broad economic package, the Senate Judiciary Committee was charged with crafting a $120-billion bill for “making improvements on U.S. ports of entry, clearing out a backlog of visa applications, or other changes,” a Senate Democratic aide working closely on the plan told Bloomberg News. There was no mention of any funds going towards border security.
“Of the 8 million immigrants that Democrats want to aid in the economic package, 3 million would be young, undocumented immigrants known as ‘Dreamers,’ migrant workers, and some with ‘temporary protected status’ because dangerous conditions present risks, if they return to their home countries, the aide said,” according to Bloomberg News. “The other 5 million would be ‘essential workers’ who have yet to be defined.”
This immigration piece apparently is becoming increasingly crucial for the Senate Democrats to secure, as several House Democrats have said they will not support the larger economic package unless it is included.
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Joe Biden Hides Kamala’s ‘Root Causes’ Migration Report
The White House released Vice President Kamala Harris’s empty report on the “root causes” of labor migration from Central America — but simultaneously distracted media attention by posting a migration-boosting plan attributed to President Joe Biden.
“We’re not seeking to end migration as part of the fabric of this region,” a top administration official told reporters during a July 28 briefing on the two reports, adding:
What we’re seeking to change the ways in which people migrate, to provide an alternative to the criminal smuggling and trafficking rings, and to give people access to opportunity and protection [in the United States] through safe legal channels.
The Harris plan is titled “U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Cause of Migration in Central America. It urges international investment in the Northern Triangle countries – Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala — plus efforts to reduce corruption and increase trade.
But Harris’ 18-page plan is hollow because it does not mention the U.S. government’s role in enabling and inviting migration. The plan is also silent about which U.S. agency is responsible for each aspect of the plan or how much money they will be allowed for each task. The emptiness of the report is spotlighted by a cliched cover letter from Harris:
Ultimately, our Administration will consistently engage in the region to address the root causes of migration. We will build on what works, and we will pivot away from what does not work. It will not be easy, and progress will not be instantaneous, but we are committed to getting it right. Because we know: The strength and security of the United States depends on the implementation of strategies like this one
The Harris plan does not even acknowledge the huge economic and political damage that is done to Central America by the U.S. government’s de-facto policy of extracting young workers from Central America for use by U.S. companies.
Since January, Biden’s welcome for migrants has pulled at least 600,000 migrants across the border, including roughly 400,000 workers and at least 300,000 people who were allowed to sneak across the border.
The Harris plan absolves the U.S. government — and her allies in the pro-migration groups — for the international damage caused by their labor extraction policy. Instead, she blamed the Central American governments:
Persistent instability and insecurity in Central America have gone on for too long. Poverty and economic inequality, pervasive crime and corruption, and [Central American] political leaders’ drift toward authoritarian rule have stunted economic growth and diverted critical resources from healthcare and education, robbing citizens of hope and spurring migration.
Many activists in Central American — including El Salvador’s president — says the U.S. policy of extracting workers and young people is damaging because it stalls the region’s economic and political development and strengthens authoritarian governments and drug networks.
“One of the effects of emigration is [the] erosion of human capital, which can have a negative impact on the economic and social development of the countries of origin,” said a 2005 report by the United Nations. A 2020 report by the Texas Public Policy Foundation spotlighted one example of an economic loss.
Alonso BenÃtez was considered a model farmer, growing organic coffee in Honduras’ western highlands. In recent years, he had switched to organic methods, planted timber-producing trees to diversify his income, and worked with a cooperative to earn a premium on the world price. BenÃtez also had a large extended family in the area, who pitched in with harvests and lowered his labor costs.
But BenÃtez vanished one day in April 2019 with his 17-year-old son, leaving an elder, 18-year-old son to oversee the farm … After spending four days in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the pair were released and went to Houston—where BenÃtez found work in a [U.S.] gravel pit.
The Harris report was launched in March when Biden directed her to work with “the countries that need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.” Harris and her staff immediately redefined Biden’s unwanted “stemming” order into an academic-style study of “root causes” of migration.
Harris may have welcomed the eclipse of her “root causes” report by the simultaneous release of the Biden pro-migration plan. The eclipse will help her avoid criticism from the many pro-migration progressives and business groups in her West Coast political network.
One million migrants have crossed the border since October, according to a June 29 report by CNN. https://t.co/E1N4UjOKeK
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 2, 2021
The Biden plan, dubbed the “Collaborative Migration Management Strategy” (CMMS), discards Harris’ “root causes” narrative. Instead, it mandates the extraction of even more young Central Americans so they can labor in Americans’ workplaces and rent apartments in Americans’ real estate.
“What you’ll hear about today is collaborative migration management with regional partners and addressing the root causes of migration,” according to a White House transcript of a closed-door July 28 briefing to a few reporters by a “senior administration official.” The official continued:
So, success in building a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system won’t come overnight, but we do have a blueprint to get us there … That’s a centerpiece of the CMMS that — is, you know, very ambitiously expanding access to legal pathways, both to the United States and to various other countries. And we’re doing a lot of work already to try to bring other countries to the table to multiply the number of legal pathways — countries like Canada, Costa Rica, Spain, and elsewhere. There’s actually a lot of momentum on that front, and it’s very encouraging.
[…]
So, we’re really excited. And again, just to note, this is the first of its kind, and I think we really believe that with the combination of ambitious root causes and migration management strategy that we really and truly have an impact in this region.
On page 12, the Biden plan says the migrants — including workers, spouses, children, and older relatives — will be extracted by several programs. The extraction programs include:
The Central American Minors program which is being used to fly spouses, children, and parents to economic migrants who have established themselves in the United States.
The United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is now being used to pull international refugees from Costa Rica.
The uncapped H-2A and the 90,00o-per-year H-2B visa-worker programs which deliver skilled foreign workers to take the place of better-paid Americans in farms, farm-machine companies, landscapers, resorts, hotels, fish processors, forests, restaurants, and construction firms.
The report detailed Biden’s plans to expand the work-visa programs, which are now principally to extract cheap and compliant Mexican workers for use in Americans’ labor market:
The United States will enhance outreach and engagement with U.S. employers; work with Northern Triangle governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to develop a more robust pipeline of Northern Triangle nationals who can meet the needs of U.S. employers when there are insufficient U.S. workers who are qualified and available to perform the work; assist the Northern Triangle governments with registering and vetting workers; connect workers with U.S. employers; and engage with labor unions and worker rights organizations to identify ways to improve transparency in the recruitment process and overall worker protections.
The White House transcript did not identify the reporters who were invited to ask questions, and none of whom showed any skepticism about the reports or even asked about the impact on working Americans who will lose more wages and jobs to Central American migrants. The questions included:
“I was hoping you could talk a little bit about updates on how we’ll be supporting prosecutorial efforts in Central America? asked “Franco.”
“Why do you guys see the reason that Mexicans are trying to cross illegally the northern border of Mexico to be in the United States if Mexico has a better economy now?” asked another unidentified reporter
REVEALED: Thousands of migrants, enrolled in the "Remain in Mexico" program, released into the U.S. interior are resettled in Florida and Texas. https://t.co/S5vtgdXfiH
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 6, 2021
“In terms of the strategy that you mentioned, how much of that is based on enforcement south of our border? … [and] as you know with asylum seekers, they sometimes have to leave within a 24-hour window, if less. So how does this strategy address those migrants?” asked a reporter named “Priscilla.”
Breitbart News was not invited to the briefing.
Overall, legal and illegal migration moves wealth from employees to employers, from families to investors, from young to old, from children to their parents, from homebuyers to investors, from technology to stoop labor.
Immigration also moves wealth from heartland red states to the coastal blue states. Within each state, the extraction policy also helps move wealth and status from the GOP’s rural districts to the Democrats’ cities.
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