Worry Bout Audience Analysis Word Count: 1000-1250

¶ … worry bout audience Analysis Word Count: 1000-1250 words (This word count refers ONLY essay. It include audience analysis Works Cited page. If essay falls short minimum word count, I automatically deduct Writing Informative Essay (Corresponding chapter The Little Seagull Handbook: W-7) General Information An informative essay organized primary functions: report a unfamiliar topic; analyze meaning, pattern connections; explain works; explore questions answers.

Informative essay: The impact of the economic crisis upon young people Although the consensus amongst economists is that the United States has extricated itself from the worst of the recession of 2008, the impact of the economic crisis is still palpable amongst many demographics within the United States. Recent college graduates are amongst the hardest-hit. Given the sluggish labor market, many new college graduates are struggling for work, while the previous generation was able to find jobs with much greater ease.

These workers are burdened by high levels of student debt, and also have parents who may be struggling, because of lost jobs or the fact that retirement savings were likewise decimated in the credit crisis. The facts are sobering. According to the New York Times, for the class of 2011 (who entered college when the credit crisis first manifested itself, "unemployment among recent liberal-arts graduates, at 9.4%, was higher than the national average, and student-loan debt, at an average of nearly $25,000, had reached record levels" (Penn 2012:1).

"Approximately two years after college graduation, only slightly over half of the graduates were working full-time, and those fortunate enough to be in this position were earning on average $34,900" (Roksa & Arum 2012). This is noteworthy, given this is well after the recession had officially ended and is despite the fact that college graduates were less affected that blue collar employees by the economic downturn. Furthermore, "only 5 of the 20 jobs projected to grow fastest over the coming decade would require a bachelor's degree" (Penn 2012:1).

This means that for many of the unemployed, the job they get may not make full use of the capabilities and skills they have worked so hard to acquire in college -- and taken out so much debt to learn. The Drew University English major who cannot afford to make payments on her $128,000 student loan is a sadly all-too-typical case. One of her classmates is even studying to become dog groomer, to have a marketable, in-demand skill (Penn 2012:1).

Having a generation severely hampered by debt not only has profound consequences for the individual but also for the economy. Students who cannot pay off their student loan debt will also have difficulty buying a home, taking out a mortgage, obtaining other forms of credit, and achieving the big 'spending milestones' typical of the middle class in America.

"Even in the best of economic times when jobs are plentiful, young people with considerable debt burdens end up delaying life-cycle events such as buying a car, purchasing a home, getting married and having children" (Touryalai 2012). In the United States, student loan debt exceeds credit card debt and "student borrowing topped the $100 billion threshold for the first time in 2010, and total outstanding loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2011" (Touryalai 2012).

The average graduating college seniors in 2009 had $24,000 in student-loan debt and 15% of graduates had debt that exceeded $50,000 (Roksa & Arum 2012). Parents also suffer, since they often cut back on retirement savings to support their adult children, take out loans to help their children complete college, or act as co-signers for their children's loans. There are also grave concerns amongst economists about the degree to which high levels of student debt are worsening the class divides within the United States.

More affluent students borrow less (some, not at all) while students who are using college as an inroad into the middle class find themselves shackled to debt. "Only 52% of graduates from highly educated families borrowed, compared to 75% of graduates whose parents had no college experience. African-American graduates were substantially more likely to incur college debt than their white peers were (74% compared to 64%)" (Roksa & Arum 2012). For some, the unemployment statistics have had dire consequences, even motivating them to seek out suicide as an alternative.

There is a strong correlation between high rates of suicide and unemployment: "The peak rate of suicide in 1933 occurred one year after the total U.S. unemployment rate reached 25% of the labor force. Similar findings have been documented internationally" (Johannsen 2012). Many young workers with high levels of debt report feelings of despondency and suicidal thoughts, because of the sense of 'no way out' that plagues them. And to some extent they have a point.

Unlike other kinds of debt, student loan debt cannot be erased even in bankruptcy and follows the holder literally to the grave (Touryalai 2012). However, some statistics seem, at least on the surface, to conflict with this sobering data about the escalating unemployment rate. In several economic sectors, employment prospects are quite robust, particularly in technology and engineering.

"A study released today by Microsoft and the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that millions of cloud-related IT jobs are sitting open and millions more will open up in the next two years due to a shortage in cloud-certified IT workers" ("Help Wanted," Microsoft Press Release, 2012). The high unemployment rate amongst young people and the demand for skilled workers in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) suggests that there may also be a fundamental imbalance within the U.S.

educational system and the way it prepares students for careers in these subjects. To be competitive in the future, the U.S. needs STEM workers, even while unemployment amongst liberal arts majors with 'soft skills' is very high. Despite the much-prompted homily that simply 'learning how to learn' is enough, there are vast discrepancies in employment rates between college graduates of different majors.

For example, while the unemployment rate for anthropology and archeology majors was 10.5%, with a median starting salary of $28,000, the unemployment rate for nursing graduates was 4%, with a median starting salary of $48,000. A mechanical engineer has an initial median starting salary of $58,000 (Goudreau 2012).

However, while increased support and education for STEM subjects is clearly necessary, a number of economists do not believe that a skill mismatch is fundamentally at the root of the job crisis, and believe that there is a limit that changes in the types of majors students pursue can affect the joblessness rate on a macro level. "When this recession is over, it will still be the case that attractive candidates for jobs requiring.