Why America’s Young People are Considered Unemployable
 When the President called a Joint Session of Congress to deliver a long-awaited jobs speech two weeks ago, millions of Americans were glued to the TV in anticipation of hearing a revelation about the economy and some viable solutions on how to fix it.
While the President did speak about the importance of small businesses controlling the economy, backing off of his previous approach of central planning through the federal government, Barack Obama failed to address one of the biggest issues we are facing in this unemployment crisis: the undesirability of American workers.
Many of the regulations imposed on businesses via the government work to discriminate against low-skilled workers, such as the minimum wage and licensing requirements. But the poor education and lax attitude of America’s younger generation is causing many employers to come out of the woodwork, claiming that they’re more than willing to hire… they just can’t find anyone qualified for the position.
The Issue Employers are facing in Today’s America
This is not a popular fact to bring up in a Presidential Address, that young people in America are unqualified for work. The federal government overreaches state funding every year, dumping billions of dollars into the educational system in the country. The federal government has also taken student loans out of private industry’s hands. In short, the government has put itself in control of education. So admitting that young people are unprepared to join the workforce is admitting that government has failed to prepare the country’s young people.
But the numbers are clear, no matter how unpopular they may be or how damaging they may be to a politician’s re-election campaign.
Unemployment rates are universally high, with upwards of 20% of the nation in the underemployed category; but for outright unemployed individuals, the 16-19 demographic is dealing with a staggering rate of 25% unemployment.
More and more employers claim that these young people are simply not prepared or not qualified to be hired. And while it’s true that America’s unemployment crisis goes well beyond this demographic, the fact that this issue is buried and forgotten is in itself a self-perpetuation factor of the country’s shoddy economy.
If you thought that 25% unemployment amongst young people was bad, just wait; it gets worse. According to the Defense Department, over 75% of all people aged 17-24 are not qualified to serve in the armed forces.
Flash back to the 1940s or 1960s, when WWII and Vietnam demanded an influx of American soldiers. America’s young people were fit to serve at an extremely high rate. Today, there are multiple issues keeping America’s youngsters from serving.
1: Poor education
Roughly a quarter of the percentage unfit to serve in the armed forces has not graduated high school. And even amongst those who have graduated, 30% outright fail the Armed Forces Qualification Test – basic math and reading skills.
2: Criminality
Of the 75%, around 10% have been convicted of a serious misdemeanor or felony at least once.
3: Physically unfit
A quarter of the percentage is also too physically unfit to join the military. Problems ranging from obesity to drug and alcohol problems to asthma and vision impairment – it seems as if today’s youth are far more unhealthy when compared to the youth of yesteryear; a fact that’s ironic considering our universally longer lifespan.
Now, this isn’t to say that a person need be qualified to serve as a Marine in order to get a job in America, but the armed forces does demand some of the same traits of the workforce. Intelligence and drive and discipline and commitment are all vital traits of an employee. Many of today’s younger Americans simply do not possess these qualities.
The world is quickly changing under our feet. Iron workers and coal miners are being replaced by computer engineers and green energy techs. This type of change demands more from the young workforce, and it seems as if young Americans are not meeting this challenge.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that these facts are drowned by media and hidden by government. For if Americans knew about this problem and knew they needed to be better prepared for the workforce, the country’s history suggests that the youth would rise up and conquer this obstacle.
Instead, however, protesting on Wall Street and blaming the employer is the flavor of the day. It has bred a sense of entitlement that never requires self-reflection; and until the issue is addressed honestly and young people realize just how unqualified they are, the economy will never heal.
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