The next time the youth of America say they have it harder... they're right.

[Zalatix]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/2012-vs-1984-young-adults-really-do-have-it-harder-today/article2425558/

PERSONAL FINANCE
2012 vs. 1984: Young adults really do have it harder today

All young adults who think they’re getting a raw deal in today’s economy, let me tell you about how it was back in my day.

In 1984, my final undergraduate year of university, tuition cost more or less $1,000. I earned that much in a summer without breaking a sweat.

When I went looking for a new car in 1986, the average cost was roughly half of what it is now. It was totally affordable.

The average price of a house in Toronto back in 1984 was just over $96,000. I wasn’t buying just then, but it’s worth noting that the average family after-tax income back then was close to $50,000. Buy a first home? Easy to imagine for new graduates of the day.

[eridani]

1. I agree

I am absolutely appalled at the disinvestment in education that has occurred since I was in college.

[Zalatix]

2. It goes far beyond education.

The youth of today face dimmer prospects with regards to employment and their overall standard of living.

[geckosfeet]

3. Oh come on.

I was out of the house at 17 hitch-hiking around town looking for work and going to school. Where is the sense of adventure?

But really folks - banks and financial institutions have plugged into a source of revenue that was essentially untapped during my school daze - student loans. Expect it to get worse as more and more young people fail to qualify or elect not to go into debt for 20 years.

Housing prices seem to have stabilized for the time being. But I do expect them to start creeping upward in the next five or so years. Cars - still some cheaper models out there but they are in general poorly assembled money pits.

The real issue is that the cost of living has spiraled out of control, prices being raised to increase ceo salaries and bonuses, corpo tax breaks, mega rich tax breaks, while the salaries of the producers and workers have not nearly kept pace with the cost of living. Less spending power makes for a sluggish or failing economy. A handful of mega rich are not going to fuel the economy. They must be eaten.

[NoPasaran]

4. Sounds like life really sucks in Canada

[HughBeaumont]

5. I think we came from the last generation to have affordable college.

I did pay-as-you-go with a commuter university and graduated with no student loan debt. My wife went to a private university, which cost her about 12 grand in student loans . . . which we paid off 5 years ago (deferrments due to master's degree, which was paid through her work). Even though it was a pain, 12 grand is a mere pittance compared to what these kids have to pay now.

The dollar bought much more back then, and that's not a compliment.

This is what happens when workers buy into the nonsense that a tax cut is a viable substitute for a wage increase. Corporate America's been playing this game for 32 years. Don't believe the tripe.

[Zalatix]

6. What I wonder is why the Democratic Party doesn't take info like this and run wild with it.

This can be squarely blamed on Reaganomics.