Need for ‘Lifelong Learning’ Among Young Adults Is Changing Nation’s Workforce
Oct. 2, 2013 at 08:00 AM | By Emily Kissane | Comment Count
A new report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce— Failure to Launch: Structural Shift and the New Lost Generation —illustrates that structural changes in the workforce brought about by the 21st century knowledge economy are affecting young adults and people nearing the traditional retirement age in significant ways.
- Over the past few decades, young adults have struggled in the labor market. The average millennial changes jobs 6.3 times from ages of 18 to 25, and only around 10 per cent of workers in that age group consider their current jobs to be careers.
- The number of young adults participating in the workforce has been declining since the 1990s and is now at the lowest point since 1972. The employment rate for 21- to 25-year-olds was 72 per cent in 2012, compared to 84 per cent in 2000.
- The impact is intensified for young adult men, young African Americans, and high school graduates. For example:
- In 2012, 18- to 29-year-old men earned 55 per cent of the median wage, compared to 85 per cent in 1980.
- In 2010, when unemployment was at its worst, the unemployment rate for 18- to 24-year-old African Americans was 30 per cent.
- Between 2000 and 2012, full-time employment for 26- to 30-year-old high school graduates dropped 13 per cent compared to 8 per cent for people in the same age group with BAs.
While young adults are taking longer to enter the workforce, people near the traditional retirement age are working longer, in part due to changes to benefit policies. Of course, many individuals struggled during the recession, but in general, this group of workers has seen their employment rate, earnings, and household incomes increase over the past three decades. Women who are 55 and older have had the greatest employment growth since the 1980s.
The report points out that people who delay retirement are not limiting opportunities for young adults. In fact, retirement creates more job openings now than in the 1990s. And economic growth ensures that an influx of workers from a particular demographic group doesn’t necessarily crowd out others.
What can be done to improve the outlook for young adults during the transition to the 21st century economy and workforce? Education shouldn’t stop when employment starts.
“The phases of education, work, and retirement are no longer linear: The system of education for youth and learning on-the-job has been replaced by an expectation of lifelong learning and the continuous upgrading of skills required to adapt to new workplace technologies and an evolving occupational structure.” (page 2)
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