You know who kills tuna. . .

Now that it's certain that millennials are killing canned tuna, every option is on the table. Will there be threatening text messages? Extra credit? Increased allowance? Grounded with no TV for a week? A fancy new tuna doughnut? A duel? Detention?

millennials, employment, the jobless, and food

A glut of articles on millennials and employment seems to have surfaced soon after graduation:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/big-chill-millennials-learning-harsh-reality-workplace-n95606

http://mashable.com/2014/05/02/millennials-april-jobs-report/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/05/10/cnbc-millenials-job-market/8914435/

http://www.today.com/money/millennials-lazy-entitled-or-maybe-just-young-2D79664367

Meanwhile Reuters notes that jobless claims are at a 7-year low, but in another article says Americans are now so "frugal" that it's hard for food companies to raise prices and retain customers.

I have no data on which of these writers was paid for their work, but I can assure you I received no compensation for this blog.

united states of contingency

Beyond academia, contingent employment is in the news, too, and increasingly common among millennials. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Younger workers were four times more likely to have contingent jobs than older workers." (I have no statistics on how the writers of all the hyperlinked article were paid; in commercial publishing there are many examples of writers being paid in "exposure," and not by cold hard direct deposit or any other means.)

worse for millennials?

These are some random URLs that suggest, strongly, that millennials are not entitled, spoiled, or lazy, but rather are facing an extremely difficult job market:

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/10-reasons-millennials-are-screwed-generation?akid=10928.253246.PDBPOz&rd=1&src=newsletter895979&t=3&paging=off

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/01/a-rising-share-of-young-adults-live-in-their-parents-home/

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/53-percent-of-all-young-college-graduates-in-america-are-either-unemployed-or-underemployed

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101015287

Labor Dreams

A lot Atticus Books fiction concerns how blue-collar Americans struggle to make ends meet, but I'm sure their newest book, Paper Dreams, has a lot on how folks wielding manual and electronic writing and printing devices have also struggled to stay afloat. You don't have to be Edmund Wilson to know the writing life is suffered more favorably on a wealthy patron or partner's dime.

Anyway, it's Labor Day, and a slither or two of unrefined reflection on my father's own "downturn" in the early nineties is partly what I thought of just now after reading this Counterpunch article that insists these are not good times. Its notable statistics include President Obama's economic approval rating is down to 35 percent, a record 36 percent of all "millennials" (aged 18 to 31) are living at home, and that 936,000 of the 963,000, or 97 percent, of new hires in the past six months report that their new jobs are part-time. And then over at gawker, this cynical breeze through Labor Day's past and present moment appeared.

I must say, though, I attended the Dayton, Ohio County Fair earlier today and saw what appeared to be extremely happy working families, thousands of folks with little polish or pretense easily dropping fifty to a hundred dollars on amusement rides and concessions, and no feeling that we were living in a world of bread lines or worse. Of course, it could well be that the stats above support a less visible malaise.

So happy Labor Day?

You tell me.

they aren't "mooching"

CNN had the audacity to post this "mooching millennial" headline on the homepage in the Business section just below an image of and article on Detroit's new 444 million-dollar arena (yes, that Detroit, the bankrupt one). Even if by some miracle this isn't largely corporate welfare funded by taxpayers, the paring of these two headlines is gruesome. An entire generation, our 18 to 34-year-olds are taking on the greatest college debt in our history, facing a tough job market, and thus many are forced to live at home, and yet they are labeled as "mooching." Closer to home, our kids in South Carolina are facing higher tuition each year while the Governor receives two years of stadium suite space valued at $58,000.

It never ends.