I’ve been underemployed for the better part of 25 years now, and I’ve often thought about the various forces that shaped me, moved me, and led me into a deeply unsatisfying job life. How did I become what I became? Why did I decide to pursue X and not Y? Why indeed.

I think many of us have had these thoughts about our lives. Our formative years behind us, we often don’t realize until much later that what we thought was “right” for us, was us actually following someone elses idea of “right” for us. Additionally, even though we may have thought we were on the road to “somewhere,” at some point, deep down, many of us had no idea where that road would lead or what that road even was.

I take responsibility for my lot in life, but I also recognize that we are not islands unto ourselves. Environment matters. Parenting matters. Teachers matter. Peers, society, etc. all matter. We don’t live in a vacuum, and as such I think it’s good to question your roots and your upbringing. Not for excuses, but for context.

John Lennon’s song, Working Class Hero, addresses the way our influences, both subtly and not so subtly, motivate our behavior. The song is also a sharp rebuke to the way we are shepherded through the first 17 to 18 years of our life, and how many of those years are simply in service to continuing a broken and often inhumane system. The song is about those subjects and much more, and like many of John Lennon’s songs, open to interpretation. Take a listen to Working Class Hero, and tell me what you think of it. I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

 

For the American working class, wage stagnation has been a nasty problem, running 40 years deep now. Different year, same pay. Year, after year, after year. Alternatively, productivity for American businesses has risen to epic levels the past 40 years. This quote from the Harvard Business Review sums it up: “though the economy has been growing, the primary way most people benefit from that growth has almost completely stalled.”

The wage gap in this country is another lingering problem affecting millions of working Americans. “The average CEO at one of the 350 largest companies takes home more than five times the annual earnings of the average 0.1 percenter.”

The wage gap and wage stagnation are interrelated problems. Understanding how they happened is the key to understanding how to fix them. Fortunately, we found a video that goes into great detail on the creation of the wage gap and wage stagnation. The video is hosted by Richard Wolff. Wolff is a renowned economist, and in the video we’re featuring, he delivers a fiery indictment of an economy that is out of whack, unjust, and on the brink of collapsing.

To be clear, the video is not an angry screed. Wolff is passionate, funny, entertaining, and most of all, on point, as he explains how our economy has slowly but steadily unraveled. We warn you, this video is going to make you mad. It’s going to make you mad because what Wolff says is true and getting worse every day.

 

Recent employment numbers (Nov, 2017) would seem to suggest that the job market in the U.S. has never been better. According to proponents of the report, the 4.1 total unemployment percentage means that America’s economy is booming and that it’s a worker’s market out there. If you watch any of the major news shows, they’ll mostly tell you that too. Here’s a quick clip of such a show.

 

 

Alright America. We Did It !! Shut it all down. Can’t get better than this! Right?…. Right? I mean, watching that clip, why not be exuberant and victorious? Well, because that clip is masking the truth and is wildly misleading. And why is that clip misleading? After all, we are close to full employment, meaning anyone who wants a job can find one. And that’s great, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The truth is, there are a lot of ways to fool the American people, and a jobs report like November’s is one such way.

So, how are these impressive employment numbers fooling people? Well, what’s missing is any context behind those numbers. What those numbers really mean, and why? Here’s some important information regarding the November jobs report. The following tells you how the report counts unemployed and employed people.

“Any individual who has been actively looking for a job within the past four weeks and is capable of taking on a job is considered unemployed. In contrast, you’re considered employed if you have a job. Even if you’re only working temporarily or you’re not working because you’re on maternity leave or you’re sick, you’re still counted as one of the employed people in the labor force.”

So people working temporarily, as well as part-time workers, are both included. Also, people who have given up looking for work are not included as unemployed. That number is around 1.5 million. Another problem with this report is that it doesn’t delve into underemployment as part of the employment numbers. Underemployed people who work part time, but want to work full time are considered fully employed. The number of underemployed people in the U.S. is estimated to be 22 million. Again, these are people who are currently part of that rosy employment number. Do you think these workers would think everything is great in the job market?

Here are more stark signs that the employment numbers grossly exaggerate the current job market’s success. If the job market is so great, why haven’t worker’s wages gone up? (only 0.2% per year, which is negligible growth). Are the jobs being created mostly well paying or at least have stability?(No, they are mostly low paying service sector jobs where hours and even employment can wildly fluctuate. This was seen in the CNN clip)

One of the unfortunate side effects of a good jobs report is that people who can’t find good work may think it’s their fault, and people at large, who only see the “great” employment numbers, but not the meaning behind them, may think people without jobs are lazy or not looking hard enough.

The truth is, most people won’t take a job if they can’t survive on the pay and hours. That makes sense. Why would anyone work just to pay half their bills? Earnest job searchers are disheartened when they discover the truth we’ve known here at The Underemployed Life for years: landing a stable job, with a living wage, has never been harder.

Even the most ardent supporters of capitalism would have to admit it isn’t a perfect system. Inequality is built into it. In a capitalist system there are naturally going to be winners and losers. Not all winners won fairly, and not all losers lost because they didn’t play well enough.

The clip we chose for this week discusses possible ways capitalism as we know it may end or at least evolve. There are some solid points made in the video. It talks about wealth inequality, a move towards a digital economy, and advances in technology reducing the human labor pool. In the clip they theorize this could spring forth a slightly different type of capitalism. One far different than what we now have. We know not everyone will agree with the assertions found in the clip; we certainly don’t, but we think there are some interesting ideas in it worth sharing. Enjoy.

Yesterday, we published a well researched article on underemployment in Australia and the United States. It’s fascinating how the two countries differ in their acknowledgment of the problem. The United States doesn’t officially track the number of underemployed in their employment data. Australia does, and continues to look for ways to curtail the problems that massive underemployment brings to its country’s citizens.

We’ve been writing articles on underemployment for over a year now. Since that time, we’ve taken notice of how much more engaged our Australian audience is with the issue than our American one. Articles focusing on Australian underemployment like this one, and this one, by Harrison Stamoudis, are our most read and remarked upon. They generate so much feedback we’re looking to hire another Australian writer who wants to tackle the subject. If your interested, write us at contact@theunderemployedlife.com.

Today’s clip is from a few years back, but is still relevant. It’s a short news report on how underemployment has affected Australia. It includes interviews and interesting analyses on an ongoing serious problem. Enjoy.

 

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Life can be complicated. There are so many things coming at us, all the time, and from all angles. It can be tough to process it all. From a young age we’re inundated with peer pressure, social pressure, parental pressure, and political pressure, etc, to “be” a certain way. It’s hard enough to figure out who you are, and what you want your life to be without having all these metaphorical arrows pointing at your head. Frankly, it can be exhausting.

Despite life’s complications, it’s important to be mindful that you always have choices. Always. The cliché, you can be whatever you want to be, isn’t just about obtaining a job title. It’s also about being the person you want to be. And being “you” is often the bravest choice you can make, especially if it defies conventions. So if you’re feeling pressure to conform or to go along to get along or to make any choices really, remember, it’s your life, make it what you want. We think today’s clip does a great job of encapsulating what we’re trying to articulate.

 

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There’s a lot of turmoil in the country right now. Large groups of Americans are at odds over seemingly everything. We can’t agree on politics. We can’t agree on the direction of the economy. We can’t agree on social issues. We can’t even agree on what we disagree on. Sigh.

There are good reasons for this divide, but we aren’t going to use this space to get into that hornet’s nest. Instead, we want to take a time out, and remind everyone that we are all just human beings. We are flawed. We are imperfect. We make mistakes. It’s not easy being human.

It takes a lot of courage to open your heart and talk to people you may not agree with; to treat them like fellow human beings, instead of as the “other.” Today’s clip reflects that challenge. We chose The Beatles’ We Can Work It Out, because A, We love The Beatles and will use any excuse to use them in our column, and B, it’s a song that is lyrically more complicated than you might think. Ultimately, we like to think the song is optimistic about people learning to cooperate and put aside their differences. Enjoy the clip.

The gig economy is booming. Uber, Airbnb, pet sitters, freelance writers (I think we hire those folks actually), etc. It’s become one of the popular choices of employment for a new generation of workers. We can see the allure. You work when you want, for as many hours as you want. Sounds great; but is the gig economy a good thing for the overall job market? Is it good for the workers? Is it good for the economy?

Essentially, gig economy workers are freelance workers. They independently sign up with an employer and each can decide to separate when it suits them. No two week notice necessary. Just leave. That’s appealing to a generation that values their freedom, and views the typical workweek with a side eyed, suspicious glance.

While there’s reason to celebrate a freer life, the gig economy has serious downsides. Workers in the gig economy have no bargaining power over wages or working conditions. No benefits. No job security. They have nowhere to go to complain if they’re mistreated.

Who really wins in the gig economy? And make no mistake, there are definitely winners and losers here. Today, we have a clip that features interviews with gig economy workers and a labor organizer. They discuss the pros and cons of being a gig economy worker. It’s a fascinating glimpse at a whole different approach to work.

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Our country seems pretty comfortable screwing over generation after generation of young college students. In fact, we seem to prefer it that way. We don’t give financial literacy courses in high school. We don’t discuss economics or what expenses are awaiting teens when they come of age. No, we just offer a couple of choices. College or no college. No college usually means no debt, but less pay over a lifetime. Choosing college means huge debt, but more pay; yet even that is not guaranteed.

The choice whether to attend college or not used to be fairly easy for most, until about ten or so years ago when the cost of getting any degree skyrocketed, leaving millions with ridiculous amounts of student loan debt. In the past we’ve featured interviews with new graduates who talked about the ways their student debt adversely affected their lives. Being able to get married, having kids, buying a house: all delayed or out of reach due to the financial burden of paying back student loans. We’d like to remind some of you out there that student loans are not dischargeable by bankruptcy. There is literally no way out of paying them back, no matter how large or burdensome they are.

Many new graduates have to find jobs quickly so they can start paying off their large monthly payments. This often means losing out on jobs in their chosen field since they can’t afford to wait too long to start earning money. That means the financial pressure from student loans often puts debtors into jobs that don’t utilize their skills, and more often than not, don’t pay well. As of a few years ago, half of college graduates were either underemployed or didn’t have any job. As Benjamin Franklin once said.”Well, that’s just fucking great now, isn’t it?”

Today’s clip features a young graduate discussing the burdens of finding work. Because of his monthly student loan payments, his options are limited in what employment he can afford to accept. It’s a sober reminder that the student loan crises is an ongoing issue, turning millions of twenty-somethings into a generation of debtors unable to get their heads above water financially. It’s completely fucked up, and it needs to change. By the way, Ben Franklin did not say that. That was jazz legend, Miles Davis. Enjoy the clip.

 

We’ve written about the future of jobs a few times in this column. Specifically about technology and its encroachment in the job market. Automation and robots are increasingly taking over jobs previously occupied by humans. That reality increases competition, lowers wages, and creates some possible chaotic scenarios in the near future. After all if there aren’t enough jobs left for people to do, who’s paying for lunch? Not us.

However, we want to shift gears a little, and talk about the benefits of technology in the work place. There are some jobs humans should not be doing. Risky jobs, dangerous jobs, hazardous jobs. Robots are being built and taught to do some of these jobs. We found a clip that shows how robots are being built that can take over jobs that put humans in harm. It’s fascinating, and we hope you enjoy it.

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