This article documents a 4% drop in entry-level pay from 2001 to 2005 in the US. Going into debt in the new economy makes it feel better, but what is the future for these people? Either they will need to get more wabi or start a revolt or they will be locked into debt-slavery.
In a steep drop over a short time, 64 percent of college graduates received health coverage in entry-level jobs in 2005, down from 71 percent five years earlier. As employers grapple with fast-rising health costs, many companies have reduced health coverage, with those cutbacks sharpest among young workers.http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090406C.shtml
Partly because of the decline in manufacturing jobs that were a ticket to middle-class life, just one-third of workers with high school diplomas receive health coverage in entry-level jobs, down from two-thirds in 1979.
…
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said it was surprising how deeply young workers were going into debt to maintain the living standards they want.
The nation's personal savings sank below zero last year for the first time since the Depression, meaning Americans spent more than they earned. But for households under 35, the saving rate has plunged to minus 16 percent, which means they are spending 16 percent more than they are earning.
"The post-boomer generation feels very cavalier about saving," Mr. Zandi said. "They've been very aggressively dis-saving and have borrowed significantly."
Originally from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/us/04labor.html
If I understand that correctly, young Americans are "dis-saving" a negative 16% of their income. I don't doubt that I haven't misunderstood that. Even going into debt with no health care, they are still living at or near poverty level. If not actually poor, they feel poor and inadequate, because the machine has become better at manufacturing false needs and desires to enslave them.
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