By: Amelia-Rose Williams
2025 has to be one of the worst years of the decade. Economically, right now in our country and around the world, we aren’t doing very well financially. Post-grad students are struggling to find work, from bachelor’s degrees to doctorates. While the world seems to be crumbling at our feet right now, with the incanting whispers of the older generation telling us to “work harder”, well we’re trying to figure out how!
As a recent graduate myself, still adjusting to the transition from high school to college, I was looking forward to the progress I was going to make since high school was over. However, I feel overwhelmed, like many students right now, about money. Minimum wage jobs around the country seem to be many students’ last hope in making any headway in this crisis. As soon as you feel that you’ve tackled the problem, it finds a way to throw you off and still has enough energy to kick you down.Â
Many students have even contemplated dropping out of school, afraid that they aren’t going to be able to afford it, or having to help pay bills because even their families are struggling to make ends meet. It’s a shame that things we need to survive, such as groceries and toiletries, have to be rationed. Even things like fast food and children’s toys are unaffordable; fast food, for many people, was a resource to turn to when people didn’t have the time to cook full meals or just wanted a quick bite to eat.
Even focusing on working towards goals that are supposed to be achievable post-grad, such as full-time jobs, an apartment, a car or maybe even a house, is not achievable with our current economy. Rent prices are through the roof for a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom shoebox apartment; you’re paying close to five grand just for rent each month. A car is now a luxury; even to finance a car, you have to keep up with maintenance that costs just as much as you are paying to finance or lease it.Â
If you want a job with that degree you dedicated years to putting yourself in debt for that’s supposed to secure you a job, you can forget it. They don’t want to hire you because you need to stack your resume with years of “experience” since birth. Oh, now you want a house? Well, you can forget ever being a homeowner because you don’t even want to get into the housing market complexities these days. It’s exhausting hearing so many voices surround you all at once when you are doing everything humanly possible to keep your head above water and steer the course, no matter how choppy it gets.
In our most dire time of need, when we need support and guidance, we are being told that, as consumers and the leading hands in keeping this country running, we have to cut back even further. We are being told we have to miss out on celebrating the holidays with our families because if we don’t have the means to do so, we don’t get the “privilege” to celebrate. It’s heartbreaking, embarrassing and humiliating. Moreover, it’s even harder to remain positive in times like these when we are consistently being told no.
Collectively, as a society, I think we need to be reminded of how powerful we truly are. It’s our paychecks, our debt and our hard work that keep this economy going. It’s going to take a really long time to reverse the damage that has been done, but if we don’t recognize where these cracks in the foundation lie, it will only come down on us even harder.