Young Workers Quickly Grow Cynical, Poll Says : Labor: Nearly three-quarters of respondents are part of a ‘forgotten majority’ who lack college degrees and job security.
Young workers start their careers with great hope but are quickly disillusioned, and by the time they reach 30, most feel they’re getting a raw deal in the new economy, according to results of a national poll released Tuesday.
The poll, conducted in June for the AFL-CIO by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, also found an enormous gap in income and attitudes between young white workers and Latinos and African Americans, even when comparing workers with college degrees.
The survey polled 752 workers between the ages of 18 and 34. Nearly three-quarters of those polled were not college graduates, a “forgotten majority” who are far less likely to have permanent jobs, be covered by health insurance or have pension benefits.
“The magnitude of the differences between college graduates and nongraduates was surprising,” said Guy Molyneux, a senior vice president at Hart. “It’s like you’re talking to two different worlds.”
Two-thirds of college graduates said they were able to save for the future, while less than half of nongraduates said they could. Nongraduates worried far more about falling into debt, being without health coverage and sending their own children to college. More than one-third of nongraduates earned less than $20,000 a year.
The survey’s findings on educational attainment were consistent with the 1997 Current Population Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, which found that only 27% of Americans between 25 and 34 had college degrees or better. Another 28% had taken some college classes or had a two-year degree.
“Those who had some college education tended to look a lot like high school graduates,” said Molyneux. “The real dividing line was the four-year college degree.”
Economist Alec Levenson of the Milken Institute in Santa Monica said the growing gap between college graduates and others has been well documented over the last 20 years. “Our booming economy doesn’t change those long-range trends,” he said. “For many high school graduates and dropouts, their wages haven’t even kept up with inflation.”
Young Latinos and African Americans were far more pessimistic about the economy than others. Whether high school or college graduates, they told pollsters they earned significantly less, were less likely to have health and retirement benefits and worried more about the future than white workers surveyed.
An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington earlier this year backs up those perceptions, showing a significant ethnic and racial income gap for college graduates, which has grown over the past decade.
The poll also tracked a steep curve of disillusionment among young workers, who start their working lives with optimism and drive but grow cynical by their 30s. With experience and age, they were more likely to prize job security over opportunities for advancement and less likely to believe that education and hard work alone will lead to success.
“These Gen-Xers enter the work force with traditional expectations and a willingness to work hard,” said Amy Dean, director of the South Bay AFL-CIO in San Jose. “But in a very short time, their work experience changes that.”
Those aged 18 to 24 consistently rated employers more favorably than those just five years older. The majority of workers older than 25 said employers fall short on sharing profits with employees, providing regular cost-of-living raises, helping working parents and showing concern for employees over the bottom line.
A majority of those polled also faulted the media, saying journalists have lost touch with average workers and should measure the economy’s performance by the standard of living and availability of good jobs rather than the stock market or corporate earnings.
More than three-quarters of those polled favored laws to mandate employer-provided health and pension benefits and paid family leave, as well as stronger laws to ensure equal pay for women. The same number also supported raising the minimum wage to $6.15.
The union-sponsored survey also found growing support for organized labor. More than half--54%--said they would vote for a union, compared with 47% of those asked in 1996. Support for unions was far higher among young workers than among workers older than 34. In that group, only 36% said they would vote for a union.
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Growing Pessimism
Workers grow more cynical over time
Sharing profits with employees
Percentage who say employers fall short on:
Age
18-24: 51%
25-29: 62%
30-34: 60%
*
Policies that help working parents
Percentage who say employers fall short on:
Age
18-24: 49%
25-29: 61%
30-34: 56%
*
Showing concern for employees over bottom line
Percentage who say employers fall short on:
Age
18-24: 51%
25-29: 60%
30-34: 62%
*
Providing regular cost-of-living raises
Percentage who say employers fall short on:
Age
18-24: 40%
25-29: 58%
30-34: 57%
Young Latinos and African Americans face a grimmer future
Latino/African American
Have full-time/permanent employment
Non-graduate: 47%
Graduate: 63%
*
Covered by employer health insurance
Non-graduate: 34%
Graduate: 53%
*
Earn more than $20,000/yr
Non-graduate: 32%
Graduate: 46%
*
Earn enough to save for the future
Non-graduate: 41%
Graduate: 54%
*
White
Have full-time/permanent employment
Non-graduate: 53%
Graduate: 75%
*
Covered by employer health insurance
Non-graduate: 42%
Graduate: 72%
*
Earn more than $20,000/yr
Non-graduate: 40%
Graduate: 71%
*
Earn enough to save for the future
Non-graduate: 51%
Graduate: 69%
Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates
