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Why is it so hard for young people to find jobs these days?
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Three broad reasons come to mind: inappropriate skill sets (skills), government regulations, and uncertainty.
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Youth unemployment may partially be the result of a mismatch between the skills young adults possess and the skills employers require of their workers.
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Younger individuals already have less experience and training.
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But even people with college degrees may find that they do not possess the appropriate skills for the jobs employers are looking to fill.
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Government can subsidize education and send more people to school through loans and grants, but this does not guarantee future employment.
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Second, government regulations and taxes may also be part of the problem.
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Things like minimum wage laws, overtime pay mandates, payroll taxes, health care regulations and unemployment insurance all make it more costly to employ labor.
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When it is more costly for firms to hire workers employers hire fewer workers, some of these costs may not be immediately obvious.
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Take for example, laws make it more difficult for firms to hire and fire workers as they see fit.
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Why could this cause more unemployment?
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Compare it to dating, imagine that any blind date you went on had to result in marriage.
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Would you ever go on a blind date, I doubt it.
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Same goes for a company that's interested in hiring more workers but worries about not being able to fire a new employee if they're not working out.
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They won't want to take chances.
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So, firms are particularly reluctant to hire young workers who lack experience and do not have an employment record to prove that they're reliable.
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Finally, there are many reasons for employers to feel uncertain about the future.
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For example, we're experiencing a slow economic recovery after a major financial crisis.
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Further, consider something like health care reform.
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The recent health care bill is very long and there is much debate and unanswered questions about what its ultimate impacts on the cost of labor may be.
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All this creates uncertainty, which makes employers more cautious in hiring workers.
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These three reasons, mismatch of skills, regulation, and uncertainty are three potential reasons why many young people are having a hard time finding work right now.
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Each of these three reasons have one factor in common: government.
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Interventions haven't helped things and they have likely made things worse.
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The unemployed would be better served if government stepped out of the picture and allowed economic growth and a free market to create more jobs and prosperity.