All the Young Dudes

Don't have jobs. Herbert tries to bring the unemployment to a head in his piece this week. The U.S. had dropped jobs like they were hot since last summer but the real scariness is the unemployment in our young men.

Only 65 of every 100 men aged 20 through 24 years old were working on any
given day in the first six months of this year. In the age group 25 through 34 years old, traditionally a prime age range for getting married and starting a family, just 81 of 100 men were employed.

For male teenagers, the numbers were disastrous: only 28 of every 100 males were employed in the 16- through 19-year-old age group. For minority teenagers, forget about it. The numbers are beyond scary; they’re catastrophic.

This is bad news. We all know what happens when young men go unemployed for extended periods of time. If things don't get better and we are not honest to ourselves about the challenges we face, things like this can get out of control.