Auszüge aus einem Artikel der Business Week:

“For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of “lost generation.” Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.

What’s more, the baby boom generation is counting on a productive young workforce to help fund retirement and health care. (…)

Only 46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September, the lowest since the government began counting in 1948. The crisis is even hitting recent college graduates. “I’ve applied for a whole lot of restaurant jobs, but even those, nobody calls me back,” says Dan Schmitz, 25, a University of Wisconsin graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Every morning I wake up thinking today’s going to be the day I get a job. I’ve not had a job for months, and it’s getting really frustrating. (…)

One possibility: Some U.S. states and European countries have enacted subminimum wages just for young people or people enrolled in apprenticeships. (…)

One possible example for the U.S. to follow is Germany’s apprenticeship program, which guides young people from high school into skilled blue-collar jobs. Young-adult unemployment in Germany has risen less than in most other developed countries. (???)”