Reverse Age Discrimination: They're Mad and They Don't Want to Take it Anymore

Last week I wrote about age discrimination, and so I decided this week I'd talk about reverse age discrimination, or discriminating against the young employee. The "Age Discrimination in Employment Act" only covers employees that are 40 or older, for the most part there is no national law that protects younger workers, but some states do have local laws that offer some forms of protection.

Does discrimination exist for those between 18 and 39?  Yes, it does.

According to the Pew Research Center:

"A plurality of the American public believes that young adults are having the toughest time of any age group in this economy— and a lopsided majority says it's more difficult for today's young adults than it was for their parent's generation to pay for college, find a job, buy a home or save for the future." (1)

Pew says, through this extensive report where 2000+ workers were surveyed between the ages of 18-34, that young adults are having a tough time. In a survey, from the general population, 41% felt that young adults were having the toughest time, while 29% say middle aged workers have it the hardest, and 24% said older workers are having it the worse.

A la David Letterman, here's the top 10 List for Reverse Age Discrimination according to Pew:

10) Young adults have been hit hard by this recession

 9)  Public says that today's young workers have it harder than their parents

 8)  Tough economic times are statistically altering young adults daily lives and long-term plans

 7)  Adulthood now begins later than it used to

 6)  For young adults, "bad times" do not "trump" optimism

 5)  Among those employed, job satisfaction has remained steady

 4)  But young workers feel more vulnerable

 3)  Few young workers see their current job as a "career"

 2)  Young workers say that they don't have the education and training to get ahead

 1)  College enrollment rates are tied to employment declines among the young (i.e. the less likely the young will find good jobs, the more likely they will go to school instead)

The share of 18-24 year olds currently employed (54%) is the lowest percentage since the government started to keep statistics (1948). And large percentages of the working population think that young workers are not being paid at a comparable rate that there parents were — the middle class is shrinking daily.

A significant part of the 18-34 population report that they have accepted a job "just to pay the bills," and all of this has affected big parts of their lives:

• 24% have taken an unpaid job just to get experience
• 35% said they went back to school for more education in specific skilled areas, speech pathology, nursing, audio engineering, etc
• 31%  said they are waiting to get married or have a baby
• 25% have moved back in with their parents

In 1998, a survey of 18 to 34 year olds, 65%  said that they felt confident they could find another job right away (if laid off), now the same group says they are 43% confidence, a drop of 22%.  A greater share of college students now say school is an alternative to work. Within the same age group among those enrolled in school, 48% of young adults in 2007 were in the workforce — down to 41% in 2011. And among those in the same age group, not enrolled, the drop went from 73% (2007) to 65% (2011).

Currently, the notion of the minimum wage is once again up for debate in Congress. The President was looking for a modest increase. "If the debate proceeds as it has -- many times -- in the past, then most Democrats will embrace the president's message and back the proposal, while most Republicans will oppose it, on the grounds that higher labor costs will lead to higher unemployment." (LA Times, March 10, 2013.)

But the general working population at minimum wage isn't looking for a dollar raise, they are looking for a doubling of pay from $7.25 to $15.00. "A few thousand fast-food workers in seven cities, including New York, Chicago and Detroit, took to the streets last week, carrying "Strike" and "Supersize Our Wages" signs in front of McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King and other restaurants. They demanded better pay, the right to unionize and a more than doubling of the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $15. (August 5, 2013 — Sharon Cohen, Associated Press, "Fast-food protests in center of minimum wage debate.")

The summary of last week's blog and this is that the Middle Class is being shrunk on both ends. Older workers and younger ones are being asked to expect less, leaving those in the middle to bear the brunt of keeping the economy going.  

How uninformed is our Congress not to be able to see this?  Let me know what you think or if you've had this experience!

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(1) "Young, Underemployed and Optimistic, Coming of Age in a Tough Economy," Pew Research Center, Paul Taylor et.al, February 9, 2012.