Finally things were looking up. For years Joe Martin had found himself stuck in a series of lousy jobs. As a teenager he served time at McDonald’s. In the wake of the 1990s recession he toiled at a golf course for low wages alongside disgruntled university grads. Later, he installed garage doors, working for years to earn meagre raises with zero benefits. Then, three years ago, Martin finally caught a break. He landed a coveted spot on the assembly line at Cami Automotive in Ingersoll, Ont.—and everything began to fall into place. At $33 an hour the pay was good. The full benefits package was even better. He met Kate Fisher, another employee, and with a sense of confidence born of their joint paycheques, they bought a small home together in nearby Dorchester and prepared to have a child. “We were able to actually have a plan that we could move forward on,” says Martin, who’s now 36. “Things were looking good and the company said if there was ever any trouble, they’d just reduce production and rotate layoffs.” After a pause, he adds, “It didn’t work out that way.”
Last spring the couple both received pink slips, making them front-line victims of the unemployment storm to come. In June, Fisher gave birth to a baby girl. And Martin, already a father of three, now finds himself right back where he started. He’s working with garage doors again, earning $11 an hour while his fiancée struggles to raise their young family. “I’m starting all over,” he says. “We have no idea what we’re going to do to get by. It’s the same thing for everyone we know. My generation is in serious trouble.”
Canada’s economy is built on a simple but deeply entrenched belief: that every new generation will do better than the one before it. But now, as we slide into what is expected to be a long and painful recession, there’s a very real feeling the cycle of generational one-upmanship has come to an end. Mounting evidence suggests today’s 18- to 40-year-olds are struggling just to keep up with the lifestyle their parents once enjoyed, let alone pull ahead. It’s all the more frustrating because before the recession hit, workers such as Martin were just starting to gain some traction—for the first time in their lives, they really felt like they were getting ahead. Then they slammed into the recession. It’s left experts asking some uncomfortable questions. Will younger workers ever dig themselves out of the hole they’re in? And could this be the first generation in decades to do worse than their parents?
Many Canadians certainly seem to believe younger workers are at risk of being left behind. In an Environics Research Group survey published last year on behalf of the federal government, the majority of people in Canada said they felt they were better off financially than their parents were at the same age. Yet when asked about the prospects of the next generation, only three in 10 thought younger people will pull off the same feat. They have good reason to be pessimistic. When you look at the most crucial yardstick of our financial well-being—our paycheques—you find that young workers are indeed falling behind. In 1976 the median income for families in the 25-to-34 age group was $56,300 (after adjusting for the effects of inflation). Three decades later that figure has actually dropped to $50,100. And with the economy backsliding, economists warn incomes could take an even bigger hit.
There’s more to the gloomy outlook facing the under-40 set than just dwindling pay. Students preparing to enter the job market today are already shouldering a huge burden. Many are staying in school much longer to chase higher degrees, in the belief that an alphabet of credentials after their names will guarantee a higher paying job. It was drilled into the head of Kate Fisher, Martin’s fiancée, as she was growing up. “Parents push you to go to university so you can do all these great and wonderful things,” says Fisher, who graduated from the University of Guelph in 2004 with a degree in geography and minors in biology and environmental studies. “But not everyone is going to get those super-high-paying jobs that we got our degrees for. I’m not a doctor, or a lawyer, or a teacher. I’m just a regular middle-class person trying to make a living.”
Even when students do land a position in their field, chances are they’ll still lag those who came before them. Extra degrees do boost incomes. But with so many master’s and Ph.D.s floating around, that framed piece of paper on the wall now offers less bang for the buck than it used to. Numerous studies have found that to earn what a regular university graduate made 30 years ago, one must now obtain an additional M.A., or even a PhD, which entails an extra five to nine years of schooling. Put another way, says Richard Shearmur, a research professor at the University of Quebec, after inflation, a 25-year-old who graduated this decade can expect to earn just 85 to 90 per cent of what the same graduate would have pulled down in 1980.
The lower income is bad enough, but all that extra schooling comes with a hefty price tag too. In 2006, the average graduate left school with about $24,000 in debt, up dramatically from $8,300 in 1990, according to the latest report from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. (All figures are in 2006 dollars.) What’s more, over the same period, the number of university students in hock when they graduated jumped from 45 per cent to nearly 60 per cent. More debt, more degrees and more time spent in school. “It all adds up to most people below the age of 40 having a harder time settling down and acquiring the lifestyle their parents thought was normal when they were under 40,” says Shearmur.
Not that older Canadians typically have much sympathy for those toiling away in school. With more thirtysomethings boomeranging back to mom and dad’s place, there’s a suspicion that young people are choosing university life as a way to avoid the harsh realities of the working world. Yet there’s no denying that the world is far more complex and competitive than it used to be. Today, goods flow across borders with ease, as do jobs. Trade has helped lower the price of flat-screen TVs and the grocery bill, but many believe globalization has also put downward pressure on what Western countries can pay for skilled labour, since it can often be done cheaper overseas. “When I was young, Canadians didn’t have to compete with people all over the world for jobs, but now to a greater extent they do,” says Malcolm Hamilton, of Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Toronto. More and more, it looks like the days of landing a decent-paying job fresh out of high school are over.
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As one of those baby boomers that seem to be the target of most of the nasty comments on this article I must protest – I got my university education in the 1970’s and it was not easier (I paid for my education through multiple jobs most at the minimum wage of about $2.50/hour) and while my friends were heading off to ski weekends I was working, working working. I did my graduate degree after working and saving for 10 years so that I would not go into debt. And during that time I did not go on holidays. I moved numerous times because that is where the jobs were. I didn’t buy my house until I was 38 years old and with a downpayment that I saved and I didn’t buy a huge 3,000 square foot house but a 1950’s bungalow that I’m still in. My friends insisted that their children would have a ‘better’ life which included annual 2 week holidays in Mexico at 5 star resorts (and which the children now just can’t do without and instead of saving the ‘children’ put it on their credit cards and pay the minimum). I didn’t own a car until I was in my early 30’s (have you ever walked through the student parking lot of a university or college – nice new cars – newer and more expensive than the one I currently own!). But my house is totally renovated and I owe nothing on it, by ivnesting in my educaton without going into debt (which is still possible if you are prepared to give up things – like eating out two or three times a week) I have a great income; I don’t take a huge vacation every year – more likely every two or three years but it is all paid before I step on the plane; and while my RRSP and other investments have been hit, I have been through the recessions of the 1970’s, the 1980’s, the dot.com bust of 2000 and the 9-11 attacks – all have turned around and if you don’t have huge debt loads and have invested in companies that actually make needed products, they will also turn around.
Having said all that, I do feel sorry for the younger generations because they simply have been told by multiple sources that they are special and unique and that they deserve everything because they exist – their parents, their schools, and their politicans have told them this – its not true, but that never stopped anyone before. Yes living in your mom’s basement is sad, but if you are 25 you can work 2 or 3 jobs to pay off your debts and save money – but whining is not going to change things, particularly if you choose to spend all your money on games for your Playstation. And parents you need to kick your 25 year old out of the house – he may have to share accommodation with some others and set some priorities, but in the end it is the basic lessons that were not learned previously.
Wow! I don’t think there’s any need for name calling.
I think the problem here is differences. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers could not be more different.
Baby Boomers value experience and money. Gen Xers value education and time. No one way is ‘right’.
I would say we each have something to learn from each other. But from my vantage point (as a Gen Xer) I see that we do have a difficult road ahead. We’ve had three recessions in our lifetime. We are the most educated generation in history. And, most of us aren’t working at decent jobs. The simple fact is that 1/3 of Canadians are Boomers. And I hate to “whine”, but we are the minority, we are the under-dogs, and we are at the bottom of the barrel until the Boomers retire. BYE BYE!!!
I must agree with MJM the baby boomer although i am a over educated GenX.
I was the first in my family to ever get a university degree and I worked my butt off to pay off OSAP which i regret taking to this day! I think GenX people are so into themselves sometime it kills me, and I hope we do learn a good lesson out of this.
All my GenX friends are loaded with debt that its scary. They have all bought a condo or home, racked up credit card bills, drive new cars and they do all this without the fear or thinking about the consequences. I make over 200K a year and I am still scared to buy a house and I see my friends doing it with less than 50K salaries… My friends tell me I am crazy for saving so much money, that i should invest in mutual funds, buy a home, etc.., All I know is that money is the root of a lot of stresses!!! I intend to save till the day I can buy a house I like outright because I know that if I dont have to pay the bank, its more money every month for me to go eat out 3times a week! if I lose my job and still own the house with no debts, I can always work at McD’s and still eat comfortably!!! No Debt, No Stress!!! another good thing about NO debt, you can always tell your employer F-OFF!
Anyways, there is more to learn from baby boomers than the GenX, if you dont believe me, just look at what your parents did for you!!!
Hi GenX reality,
And where do you think credit cards came from?? Hmmmm……
I also have a University Degree, plus two certificate trade programs. Any advice for me? I’ve been struggling to get a toe-hold into a position for 5 years. I don’t over-spend. Haven’t been on a vacation for 7 years. Thank you for your opinions. Just remember that we all have one. And, we all come from our unique perspective which we hold dear. So let’s be easy on the finger-waving and stereo-typing. And, come on folks, let’s support our own!!
I can’t believe how many grown up children especially men live at home with thier parents. I see it also is ok for most of these parents or aleast they don’t say anything outloud in public. Well I’m going to. My son graduated 12 and I’m extremely happy about that. Then after I gave him about 6 or 7 months to relax and enjoys his reward so to speak. Then one day I realized I was paying his unemployed friends that practically lived at our house well some did for different periods of time. FOR FREE OF COURSE. SO THEN i TOLD HIM IT WAS TIME TO GO LOOK FOR WORK.Well he found a job delivering pizzas that didn’t cost me too much You know gas to get to work , oh ya had to buy him a car o he could get those pizzas to you still hot and insurance delivery people have to pay more of course and collision just to be safe so if by change the worst happened he would be able to get right back into another car so he wouldn’t lose his job oh don’t forget the cell phone I drew the line when gps ’s were brought up. H e grew up here . He should know is way around good enoughand with the fines for being teo lazy atleast that what I call it to put his L and N on or had too many friends in the car.can’t get insurance without paying the fines. Well at this point the tally runs between3 and 4 thousand and he hasen’t even worked a shift yet not bad eh! and I ‘m a single unemployed mom because I got 3 speeding tickets with in 5 years so they prohibatated from being able to even apply for a drivers licence anywhere in Canada OR the USA AND LIKE SO MANY other prohibitated drivers I know I tried to keep working bute was one of the unlucky ones and got caught so there we go another fine to pay $500. and off to jail for 14 days. That was an interesting trip they have 5 seperate cages ( metal Covered over by Plexi glass ) a metal bench type seat theres NO extra space room for 1 and 1 only.. Your handcuffed then they hand cuff your feet and with the heavy duty chain attached to your feet ones they use a pad lock to look your feet to your hands,then shut your cage door put a nother padlock on then they shut the van doorsand lock them as well. I was caught driving well prohibated not running the picton pig farm! no seat belts,heat or anything and up Island we travel from CAMPBELL RIVER TO VICTORIA. . THEN ONTO A PLANE LITTLE TINY BUT VERY LOUD PLANE STILL ALL HANDCUFFED AND SHACKLED. Over to surry we went. got off at some big airport didn’t tell is which one and into another van these guys were alot nicer they gave each of us one of those gray thin wool blankets so we could sit on them or try to keep warm.. As cold as I was I had to choose sitting on it with not enough meat on my behind I discovered two new bones that I didn’t know were even there.and off to surrey pretrial maximum security prison I went I wonder what that cost the tax payers and then it was about 8 days later and they said I was free to go gave me back the clothes I was wearing when I got arrested and pointed at the stairs so I went up them and when I got to the top there was this guy sitting in like a toll booth and he pointed to the door on the right behind him and when I went through it found myself outside locked out because it’s his job to make sure only people that have passes or what ever get in. And a bunch of signs all around saying stuff like NO VISITORS tresspassers would be prosicuted to the fullest the law will allow IF YOU ARE A PERSON JUST RELEASED YOUR REQUIRED TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY IMMEDIATLY OR YOU’LL BE CHARGED AND IMPRISIONED. i WAS LIKE WHAT THE @%#& HOW AM i GOING TO GET HOME but kept on going I wasn’t going back in. OOPS A LITTLE VENTING THERE THANKS FOR LISTENING… But back to my kid he won’t lift a finger around here doesn’t pay me for his cell phone bill in my name or pay his room and board I go buy groceries like $500. at once because it’s very rare that somebody comes around with a licence and I’ve already lost 5 or 6 vehicles to the impound for people driving them without a licence. So he invites abunch of friends over for about 3 days in a row till it’s all gone.I have been asking him to leave since Dec.08 it’s march 09 and he still hasent left!!! what can I do PLEASE HELP
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