Most younger employees have either lost a job or taken a pay cut. For some, this is their second recession in a decade.
The economic recession caused by the coronavirus has been unprecedented in many respects, but all too familiar in one: The crisis has taken a particular toll on young workers. As unemployment around the U.S. was peaking this spring, more than a quarter of young Americans lost their jobs. Most of the country’s youngest workers have either lost a job or taken a pay cut during the crash, according to Pew Research — and perhaps not surprisingly, they are also the most likely to report having trouble paying their bills or rent. Younger people who still have jobs are least likely to have the option of telecommuting, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), losing out on a large added measure of protection from the virus, not to mention the cost savings of not having to commute. They’re also most likely to have due to the pandemic: For the first time since the 1930s, more young adults in the U.S. are than not, according to Pew data. « Not only have many young people in this country faced the harsh reality of returning to school without in-person classes at their colleges and high schools, the job prospects for those seeking employment have been particularly bleak, » economists at the left-leaning EPI said in a recent report. Young workers were among those hit hardest by the coronavirus shutdown this spring. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds peaked at 27% in April, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of November, unemployment among the youngest workers was twice as high as among other employees. The pandemic has shuttered many of the service industries that have historically employed young people: restaurants, bars, coffee shops and retail stores. Last year, one in four young workers had a job in the leisure and hospitality sector — an industry that lost 3.3 million jobs in 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Another one-fifth of young workers were in the retail sector, which is down 680,000 jobs since the spring. « This crisis has delayed that very first step into the labor force, » said AnnElizabeth Konkel, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. « It’s that first experience of making money — it may have been an office internship, or a cashier in a book store, or restaurant job over summer.
