"My Generation Owes the Young More Sympathy"

I’m not a recent graduate, but also came of age in a recession. My generation was also unfairly denigrated by adults blind to economic reality.

With the release of new employment numbers on Friday March 4th, we at FrumForum decided that it was time to listen to the voices of the young as they face the challenges of this economic crisis. Over the next days, in an exclusive series, we will be featuring a number of their first-person stories in this space. If their experience is yours, we welcome you to join the conversation at Editor@FrumForum.com.

Click here for David Frum’s introduction to this series.

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I’m not a member of the current generation of recent graduates, but I remember coming of age in a recession.  It is important we admit the world they now live in, and admit what it is like to be young.  I remember older adults' complete blindness to economic conditions and their willingness to denigrate my generation.  It was maddening to me, as I am sure it is maddening to the young today.

I too was quoted salaries without also being quoted rents, or college loans, or the new levels of education. I too was told I should be happy to do any job despite having a higher education degree. "You aren't happy about being a security guard despite having a master's degree? What's wrong with you? In my day..."

It is so ridiculous. Nobody is that together when they are young. It is a time for learning and if they haven't learned, well whose fault is that?

This kind of talk leads to long term policy problems, and also long term mental ones. Like many, I internalized this criticism, and so even today, as a wife and mother, part of me thinks I'm not as grown-up as I should be.  Even my husband, as talented and responsible a man as one could hope for and an excellent father, feels a sense he's not measuring up.

And of course, getting a foot in the door is a time sensitive step.  If you don't get it done in a certain amount of allotted time, you've got to find a different door.  And with school costing so much money, it is never a simple decision to go train for another field that also might be closed.  Some never recover from this game, others only partially.

This is the real cost to the young for high unemployment since however much it may seem that youth suddenly evaporates, the person does not.  Lost chances, misplaced confidence and scorn are not what we owe the young. We owe them our knowledge, compassion and an honest assessment of our own youth.

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