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Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
It depends on how you look at it. When I was young (mid/late 80's) I was happy to stack lumber, shovel rocks, dig trenches, etc for 8-12 hours a day for $6-10/hr. Now we have young kids that scoff at $15-18/hr for simple stuff like warehouse work or shipping/receiving. The ones that do accept the job spend half the day texting on their cell phone. If you can get 4hrs of work out of some of these kids in an 8hr shift you have a keeper lol. I have a very hard time not placing Gen Y as the most self-entitled generation of all-time.
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I really don't think it's quite that simple. Very few jobs these days start off at $15-18/hr. Also, the cost of living/education compared to wages has gone through the roof. The price of simple staples such as basic food items and rent has increased several fold.
When I graduated with a biology degree, many employers expected me to work for.....free. And the sad part was there were people lining up to do it just so they could put it on a resume. That's how bleak job prospects for university grads are these days. This was biology, which in many ways is actually considered to be an applied science in many ways as you get direct experience with lab work, field work, etc... I can't imagine the job prospects for arts graduates.
I honestly just don't buy that there are this suprlus of $15+ dollar an hour jobs that people are turning down.
It's also been shown that generation Y is expected to work longer hours than any generation in recent history. Not to mention you've now got the reality of the two income household where both male and female are expected to work full time. Many baby boomers who worked high paying jobs with long hours had the advantage of having a spouse who took care of cleaning and cooking. Now..not so much.
http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2011/07/...eek-part-time/
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The report, which examined two sets of government data, found that a growing number of professionals and managers work 50 hours or more. Nearly 38% of men with professional and managerial positions worked over 50 hours a week between 2006 and 2008, up from about 34% from 1977 to 1979. The number of professional women working longer hours has also increased dramatically, to 14.4% from 6.1% about 30 years earlier.
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I also think the view of workers and capital has changed. Historically a worker in a business could work and save and eventually open their own business. Now the cost of capital is so ridiculous that people are forced to live pay check to pay check. No matter how much a person making $15.00/hr saves, they are not going to be able to afford the ridiculous capital costs involved with entering the market.
A person's only hope is to be really lucky or become a certified tradeperson or professional.