{"id":203733,"date":"2021-03-15T23:55:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/pandemics-high-and-largely-overlooked-toll-on-in-betweeners\/"},"modified":"2021-03-15T23:55:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:55:28","slug":"pandemics-high-and-largely-overlooked-toll-on-in-betweeners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/pandemics-high-and-largely-overlooked-toll-on-in-betweeners\/","title":{"rendered":"#Pandemic’s high \u2014 and largely overlooked \u2014 toll on ‘In-Betweeners’"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Pandemic’s high \u2014 and largely overlooked \u2014 toll on ‘In-Betweeners’<\/strong>”
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A year ago, most of my college peers and I didn\u2019t mind when we heard we\u2019d be spending two weeks of our senior year in a virtual classroom. Yet when the two weeks proved to be months and longer, our minor gripes about missing out on a real graduation and not getting to say goodbye to friends turned to very real worries of being displaced, unemployed and alone.<\/p>\n

Fact is, the pandemic\u2019s toll on the \u201cIn-Betweeners,\u201d as I call those of us on the cusp between Gen Z and millennials, has been significant \u2014 and largely overlooked. My generation was particularly impacted, lost somewhere in between childhood and adulthood.<\/p>\n

We In-Betweeners have been waiting alone in cities far from home, isolated college dorms or childhood bedrooms \u2014 waiting for the nightmare to be over so life can begin. Our dreams for the future have been hard to keep alive through this awful year, particularly given the financial and emotional turmoil we\u2019ve faced.<\/p>\n

Last spring, 38 percent of college students lost their jobs when they were forced to leave campuses around the country; 52 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds moved back in with family, the highest share since the Great Depression. One in five cited financial reasons for the move.<\/p>\n

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>, unemployment among those 16 to 24 peaked at a whopping 26.9 percent in April (compared with an overall unemployment rate of 14.8). Even now that unemployment is down to 6.2 percent nationwide, it\u2019s still 9.6 percent among 20- to 24-year-olds.<\/p>\n

The reasons are obvious. During recessions, young workers are the first to lose out on job opportunities; the pandemic made it worse.<\/p>\n

A quarter of working 16- to 29-year-olds are in the leisure and entertainment industry, which has been hit particularly hard by closures and social<\/a>-distancing restrictions.<\/p>\n

Few places have been looking to hire a freshly graduated intern when their own staffs have been laid off; even jobs at the local movie theater are gone.<\/p>\n

So what options are left for those with nothing but a seemingly useless degree and a backpack full of student loans? Ironically, many have decided to pay for even more schooling, in the hope that a higher degree will finally open some doors.<\/p>\n

Others are drawing from savings accounts and retirement funds to pay rent while working at whatever minimum-wage jobs they can find.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, obstacles in the first few years after entering the workforce may drag down a worker\u2019s income \u2014 and career \u2014 for years: The Center for Economic Policy Research found that just one month of unemployment for an 18- to 20-year-old knocks off 2 percent of total life income.<\/p>\n

Struggles to find internships and a lack of job recruiters at colleges make it virtually impossible to build a network needed to start a career.<\/p>\n

Such financial stresses can lead to emotional ones. More young adults have been dealing with mental-health issues throughout the pandemic<\/a> than any other age range. In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study<\/a> released last month, 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported increased substance use, and 63 percent noted anxiety or depression. A quarter said they\u2019ve seriously considered suicide.<\/p>\n

Some college students or graduates have had to return to unhealthy family situations. Those without parents capable of supporting them may be living alone without work or college friends. Though many Americans have endured loneliness over the past year, older adults are more likely to have some type of community for emotional support.<\/p>\n

No doubt it\u2019s been hardest for those who\u2019ve faced the coronavirus head-on \u2014 health-care and other essential workers, those who lost loved ones or have battled the virus themselves. But that doesn\u2019t mean we In-Betweeners haven\u2019t paid a steep toll.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 pulled the rug out from millions of young and eager Americans. A bit more war-torn, they\u2019ll have a chance to find some solid ground once this is all over. The road ahead may be harder now \u2014 but if they can find the strength to make it through, it could define their generation.<\/p>\n

Ashley Allen is an intern with The Post.<\/em>\n <\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Pandemic’s high \u2014 and largely overlooked \u2014 toll on ‘In-Betweeners’” A year ago, most of my college peers and I didn\u2019t mind when we heard we\u2019d be spending two weeks of our senior year in a virtual classroom. Yet when the two weeks proved to be months and longer, our minor gripes about missing out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/college-coronavirus-feature.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[97778,71442,1545,5071],"class_list":["post-203733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-3-15-21","tag-colleges","tag-coronavirus","tag-unemployment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}