Shocker: Gallup Says Unemployed Are Discouraged
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Okay, so more than 19 percent of Americans are underemployed—which means either unemployed or looking for full-time work. For the first time, Gallup has endeavored to discern how underemployed people feel about their situation. It's not surprising there are more discouraged people without jobs than there are hopeful people. Rather, it's in the survey's details where Gallup's findings become interesting.
To start, Americans with part-time jobs were found to be significantly less hopeful about finding full-time employment in the next four weeks than are the straight up jobless. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians are apparently more hopeful than non-Hispanic whites; men are 5 percent more hopeful than women; and 30- to 49-year-olds are 12 percent more hopeful than 50- to-65-year-olds.
Almost one-third of 18-to-29-year-olds are underemployed, and 54 percent are not hopeful.
Does hopefulness have a location? Sort of. Underemployed people in the South and East are a little more hopeful than those in the West and Midwest. Does it have a political identity? Well, most underemployed in both the hopeful and not hopeful groups approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job, but the hopeful are 6 percent more approving.
Whom does Gallup deem the "least likely to be hopeful"? Underemployed Americans with college and postgraduate degrees, 65 percent of whom are officially discouraged.
(Photo credit: clementine gallot; C.C. 2.0)
- Taylor Wiles's blog
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Crunching the numbers
"least likely to be hopeful"? Underemployed Americans with college and postgraduate degrees, 65 percent of whom are officially discouraged.
As person with a college degree and currently working on my M.A, that's discouraging to hear, and I still have a year or so left in my program. Higher education is supposed to be an avenue to better financial opportunity, not hopelessness...
Excellent post
Great blog, Tay. It's always interesting to read about the psychology/sociology behind economic events. How disheartening, though understandable, to see such a lack of hope.