Even Grandparents Agree: Life is Harder Today

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In regards to the comment:
“Having a college degree insulated people from the worst effects of the negative labor market,”.
I can agree to a point. That is, having a trade can insulate you from a negative labor market. It must be noted that having a collage degree has nothing to do with being a tradesman as many tradesmen don't even have high school diplomas.
The best way to secure your career future is to diversify within your establishment. Layoffs start from the bottom up so climb as high on that pyramid as you can.
Finally, if you know that you want to go into a trade don't bother with post secondary education right away, just get in with a company and get some experience. By the time your classmates get out of collage you could have made enough money to buy a house. They, on the other hand, will have acquired a bunch of debt. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Go watch "Collage Conspiracy" on YouTube it has a lot of eye opening information.
Good Luck!

Drake 9:34AM March 19, 2012

Hogwash !!!
Things are no harder now, than in their grandparents generation. They just want more, and sooner. They see the house the earlier generations have, and automatically think that is what they should have.Forget that most trade up a couple of times in their lifetime. Even on minimum wage anyone can buy a house.You may need to move, take in roommates, be frugal in every category, but if you want it bad enough, it is attainable.
There is always a certain percentage of the population who aren't willing to sacrifice their "wants" even for a short time, to fund their future. These are the people who still have nothing when they reach retirement age, and cry "poor me".
Couples raising a family do not need to use childcare. One can work fulltime and the other can work part time, around the other's schedule.Working hard a few years before the children come to pay off the house, can mean not even working p/t. Plant a large veg garden,fruit trees and bushes,and raise a few chickens.
Families just need to figure what is important to them. Is it the time to spend together, or is buying stuff.
If you want to go a vacation, you can camp or try housesitting. Kids don't care. What they do remember is if mom and dad made it fun.(no yelling over stupid stuff)

kathryn 2:34AM March 19, 2012

Young peole are getting out of post secondary [college/uni] with gia-normous debt that can't be written off even via bankruptcy. They weren't warned how dangerous it was to start off with debt equal to a house!
Competition for every job is significant, not quite as bad as in China due t population but overwhelming to HR professionals who get sacks of mail for all positions. New grads need help networking since most jobs are filled by referral before ever being advertised. We call it 'wired.'

Hon Min of ID 9:04PM March 18, 2012