WSJ: Recession’s Economic Trauma Has Left Enduring Scars

According to President Obama, it's just luck. You got connections or you don't. It's the system.

The President recently said, “That’s a pet peeve of mine, people who’ve been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky, that God may have blessed them. It wasn’t nothing you did, so don’t have an attitude.”

Oh. So, how's that working out in your economy?   PB
------

From the Wall Street Journal online:

The recession ended seven years ago, but persistent joblessness and underemployment marred the economic expansion that followed.

A growing body of research suggests the economic trauma has left financial and psychic scars on many Americans, and that those marks are likely to endure for decades.

About one in six U.S. workers became unemployed during the recession years of 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Today, nearly 14 million people are still searching for a job or stuck in part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time work.

Even for the millions of Americans back at work, the effects of losing a job will linger, the research suggests.

They will earn less for years to come...

As in previous recessions, millions of Americans faced a phenomenon economists sometimes call wage scarring.

People who lose a job, even during economic expansions, usually earn less money when they re-enter the workplace.

They are out of work for a time and often take a pay cut as the price of returning to work at a new employer or even in a new career.

This time, the damage was exacerbated by the job market’s painfully slow recovery.

Extended or repeated spells of unemployment mean more severe earnings losses, and recent years have seen an unusually large number of job seekers out of work for more than six months or stuck in part-time positions.

“They had a much harder time finding a job, and in particular a full-time job, which immediately turns into an earnings decline...”

Job loss has more than just financial consequences.

Unemployment often is an isolating experience.

A layoff can strip people of their identity as workers in a chosen field and their workplace-based social network of co-workers and other contacts.

Researchers have linked job loss to stress, depression and feelings of distrust, anxiety and shame...
------
Link http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-recessions-economic-trauma-has-left-enduring-scars-1462809318