Source #1

Summary:
 More Young Americans Out of High School Are Also Out of Work, written by Catherine Rampell was originally published in the New York Times newspaper in June of 2012.  Rampell attempts to portray both the fears and low expectations of American who recently have entered the workforce without attending a college or university.  Rampell makes use of not only statistics from Rutgers University, but also through online nationwide surveys. These resources in combination with quotes directly from the workforce, gives an incredibly personal look into the fears the workforce without degrees in the U.S. live with each day.  By not attending college, many have found that they cannot succeed and live comfortably without going back to school without piling up even more debt, or moving home with their parents.  Rampell makes use of two surveys taken, one of graduates graduating 2006-2008, the other the graduating classes of 2009-2011.  In a comparison of these two sets of graduating classes, there was a startling drop from an already low 37% of these 2006-2008 graduates finding full time employment.  Those in the graduating classes of 2009-2011 had dropped from an already low 37% to only 16% full time employment.  This survey even noted a drop in part time employment by 1%.  These drops in employment are what have caused this fear; workers have begun to fear the future.  The expectations of supporting a family, having health insurance, or even attaining more financial success than their parents seem grim for these people in the workplace.  Their recent employment has been so difficult for them, many have begun to lose hope in their future of attaining a job where they could live comfortably, start a family, or even buy a home of their own.

Response:
 Rampell’s article portrayed a view not often seen in the news; much of the focus of unemployment in the United States revolves around the college graduates.  Mainly due to their higher education still not allowing them to find employment.  Rampell makes use of so many statistics in her article mainly through surveys of actual unemployed high school graduates, much of her information becomes hard to ignore.  In order to create a more personable feel, Rampell includes quotes directly from those currently struggling, such as Walter Walden, 24, who had to move home with his parents and enter nursing school because employment was impossible to find.  Along with these stories of people’s struggles, her usage of the statistics of full time and part time employment adds a bit of shock and awe seeing as both are under 40% in the last five years of graduating classes.  This data relates well to the topic of the American Dream, due to its reliance on the job market.  Without a job to begin and fund a rise out of whatever current economic situation a person is in, there can be no American Dream.  Not only does the fact that the article is directly out of the New York Times, but also that most of the statistics and studies were done by Rutgers University give these number quite a bit of credibility.  Where this article was lacking was in the reasoning of why these people in the workforce chose not to continue higher education.  There was no explanation of whether or not they could not find the financial aid, or personal constraints.  The only given information was they’re lacking of gainful employment, and personal feelings towards this; which I guess would be understandable as a local news, but not the New York Times.