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    Some problems that young adults seem to be faced with:
Is suicide common among children and young people?
In 2004, suicide was the third leading cause of death in each
of the following age groups.1 Of every 100,000 young people in each age group, the following
number died by suicide:1
- Children ages 10 to 14: 1.3 per 100,000
- Adolescents ages 15 to 19: 8.2 per 100,000
- Young adults ages 20 to 24: 12.5 per 100,000
As in the general population, young people were much more likely
to use firearms, suffocation, and poisoning than other methods of suicide, overall. However, while adolescents and young adults
were more likely to use firearms than suffocation, children were dramatically more likely to use suffocation.1
There were also gender differences in suicide among young people,
as follows:
- Almost 4 times as many males as females ages 15 to 19 died
by suicide.1
- More than 6 times as many males as females ages 20 to 24 died
by suicide.1
By: Jeff Ryan
The dream of every generation is
to have its next generation be better than the one before. That doesn’t appear to be happening, healthwise, for this
current generation of American children.
The newest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
National Center for Health Statistics, released last week, is not good news. Obesity, poor or no health insurance, and smoking
are key problem areas.
Almost 1 in 4 young adults (defined
as between the ages of 18 and 29) are obese, and another 28% are overweight. In the younger sets the news
is marginally better:
- 17% obesity rates for adolescents 12 to 17, and
- 15% overweight for school-age children 6 to 11.
A new statistic, high school students who smoke, was set at
20%, 1 in 5. This is the lowest it’s been since the statistic began to be collected in 1991. But once teens become
young adults, the numbers spike to almost 30% for men; young women’s smoking levels remain about the same.
For insurance, 34% of young men, and 25% of young
women, currently have no insurance. Until they turn 18, they would be eligible for SCHIP (State
Child Health Insurance Program) if their family’s income was low enough.
It seems once they reach “adulthood,” many don’t - or can’t - afford to take care of themselves properly.
source site: click here
National health statistics include look at young people’s
health
A report on the nation’s health from the National
Center for Health Statistics has for the first time included a section on the health of America’s young adults, focusing on those ages 18 to 29. As of 2007, there were an estimated 51 million people in this
age group, representing 17% of the country’s population.
The statistics cover a lot of factors, including
ethnicity, marriage rates, education and employment, but for our purposes the information on the general health of young people
is most important. The report largely shows that the health
of young people is holding steady, but when it comes to
health problems like obesity, their health is in decline.
Young people face lots of accidents, weight gain
A quick snapshot of the data shows that the biggest cause of death for people in this age group
is accidents, which as of 2005 killed 40 young adults per 100,000. Among men the next big causes are homicide and suicide,
while cancer kills more young women than either of these causes, and suicides and homicides are about even.
24% of young adults are considered obese, while
another 28% are overweight. Those numbers have more than tripled since the 1970s. Moreover, most young adults aren’t
getting much exercise: just 36% said they get any regular physical activity while 26% regularly lift weights.
Smoking, drinking and drugs
Nearly 1/3 of men and 21% of women in this age group
smoke, and 30% have no health insurance, making them the least likely of all age groups to have health insurance, according
to the report (you can browse the 600-page monster in PDF form if you like).
17% went without a needed health service - such as:
- medical or mental health care
- eyeglasses
- prescriptions
- because
they couldn’t afford them, about the same rates as older adults.
But many people in this age group are at least sometimes going
to the doctor: 84% of women and 57% of men reported a doctor visit at least once in the previous year.
1/4 of all young men and fewer than 10% of young women reported
having 5 or more alcoholic drinks a day on at least 12 days during the previous year, while as many as 8% of men and 5% of
women reported regular heavy drinking (more than 14 drinks a week for men and 7 for women).
Use of illegal drugs is highest among the youngest people in
the age group, with 22% of 18 to 20-year-olds in 2006 reporting use of drugs in the month before the interview, compared to
18% of those ages 21 to 25 and 14% for ages 26 to 29. But 40% of the youngest young adults
surveyed said they’d used drugs in the previous year. Marijuana was the most popular drug of choice, followed by prescription
drugs such as tranquilizers, sedatives and stimulants.
Overall health not so good
The survey tried to gauge the overall health of the group not
only by looking at obesity, smoking and exercise but also by asking respondents about any physical limitations they have and
whether a doctor has ever told them they have chronic illnesses like arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease or
hypertension.
4% of respondents ranked their current health as fair or poor,
while 5% said they had limitations on their activities because of a chronic health condition. 15% said they’d been told
they had one of the health conditions listed above, with women having slightly more diagnoses than men (18% vs. 12%).
The most common of these health problems was asthma, being diagnosed
in 9% of women and 5% of men. Next came arthritis and hypertension.
Experts say health care providers and public health campaigns
need to do more to reach this age group because they don’t seem to be getting the messages about not drinking, smoking
and using drugs and about exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. All of these behaviors potentially set them up for
more health problems later in life.
(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie
Counter News)
source site: click here
Young people struggle to deal with kiss of debt
By Mindy Fetterman and Barbara Hansen, USA TODAY
Thirty years ago, the "generation gap" reflected the cultural
gulf between World War II-era parents and their children. Parents then just didn't get sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
Today, the gap is about debt.
This generation of twentysomethings is straining under the weight
of college loans and other debt, a crushing load that separates it from every previous generation.
Nearly 2/3 carry some debt,
and those with debt have taken on more in the past 5 years, according to an analysis of the credit records of 3 million twentysomethings
that Experian, the credit-reporting agency, did for USA TODAY. Their late payments are rising, and they're more likely to
be late than other Americans are.
Nearly 1/2 of twentysomethings
have stopped paying a debt, forcing lenders to "charge off" the debt and sell it to a collection agency, or had cars repossessed
or sought bankruptcy protection.
High debt loads are causing anxiety, too. A poll of twentysomethings
by USA TODAY and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) found 60% feel they're facing tougher financial pressures than young people did in previous generations. And 30% say they worry frequently about their debt.
"I have nightmares," says Heather Schopp, 29, of Long Beach,
Calif., who accrued $165,000 in student-loan debt to become a chiropractor. "I dream I'm on a hot-air balloon, hanging on
for dear life."
Although the percentage of people ages 22
to 29 with debt has declined, their total debt is up 10%, to an average $16,120 as of Aug. 1, compared with 5 years earlier,
Experian's analysis found. Every type of debt - from credit cards to college to personal loans - has risen.
-
student-loan balances rose 16% to an average
of $14,379;
-
revolving debt, including credit cards,
surged 24% to $5,781;
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total installment debt, including student
& personal loans, rose 4% to $17,208. (Comparisons are adjusted for inflation.)
Among all twentysomethings, the fastest-growing
group owes $20,000 or more in student-loan debt. Though it's a small group, its proportion has doubled in the past 5 years
to 3%.
"This debt-for-diploma system is strangling
our young people right when they're starting out in life," says Tamara Draut, author of Strapped: Why America's 20- and
30- Somethings Can't Get Ahead. "It's creating a sense of futility that no matter what they do, they're not going to be
able to get ahead. It's a sense of hopelessness."
Credit cards have been a seductive lure for
many twentysomethings who got them while in college or right after.
"I didn't have a lot of savings, so I started
on my credit cards," says Tolu Adeleye, 28, of Minneapolis, who ran up debt traveling during school. He has about $35,000
in credit card debt.
A change of plans
Debt has forced some young people to change their career plans. Of those surveyed, 22% say they've taken a job they otherwise wouldn't have because they needed more
money to pay off student-loan debt. 29% say they've put off or chosen not to pursue more education because they have so much
debt already. And 26% have put off buying a home for the same reason.
A smaller percentage say they've put off marrying
(11%) or having children (14%).
The Boomerang Generation - young adults who return to live with their parents - is real, too. In the poll, of 910 twentysomethings, 19%
said they've moved back with parents to cut costs. The 2000 Census found that more than 25% of 18- to 34-year-olds had moved
back in with family at the time the Census was taken.
"I was getting buried" by student debt, says
Todd Townsend, 25, of Lake Placid, N.Y. He has moved back home from New York City to live with his mother so he can save money
and pay off some of his debt.
Experience Inc., which provides career services
to link college grads with jobs, found that 58% of twentysomethings it surveyed in July had moved back home after college.
Of those, 32% stayed for more than a year, according to its survey of 320.
"The reliance on family for this generation
is very, very different from prior generations," says Jennifer Floren, CEO of Experience. "They're living under the shelter
- financial and otherwise - of Mom and Dad for much longer. "
Many young people fear they won't be able to count on Social Security or on company pensions. Meantime, they're being urged to save early for their
retirement.
Yet many can't, and most aren't. 55% aren't
saving in either an individual retirement account or a 401(k) account, and 40% don't have a savings account they contribute
to regularly, according to the USA TODAY/NEFE poll.
Kimberly Halbach, 25, of De Pere, Wis., is
trying to save a little each month, even though she has about $30,000 in student debt. "I understand what I need to do," she says. "It's just getting the money to do it."
Dana Dwyer, 24, of Miami has $13,000 in student-loan
debt, about $15,000 in credit card debt and $16,000 in medical bills. She'd like to save, but she's struggling just to pay
her bills.
"Save what?" she says.
'Quit whining'
Some in the generations before them seem to
feel little sympathy. They recall their own college days, when they worked during the school year and summers to pay tuition. What some may not
recognize is how much college costs have soared above the overall inflation rate since then.
"We hear boomers all the time say, 'Well,
gosh. They should just do what I did - work their way through school,' " says Bob Shireman of the Project on Student Debt,
a non-profit that studies the issue. "It doesn't work that way anymore."
Shireman points to higher tuition, lower levels
of federally guaranteed student loans per student, stagnating entry-level wages and skyrocketing housing costs.
Even some boomers who are sympathetic can
sound a little judgmental, like Jimmy Williamson of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The institute has launched an ad campaign
- Feed the Pig - to urge young people to save in today's version of a piggy bank.
"When I came out of college, I knew I had
to live within my means," says Williamson, who had $7,000 in college debt that took 10 years to pay off. "I used a public
washeteria. I even saved for a TV. It took me two years to get a TV."
Add Madison Avenue's version of smart-talking,
flip-flop-clad young adults springing for $5 lattes and downloading on their iPods, and you've got an image gap, too.
" 'Quit whining' - I've heard that a lot,"
says Draut, who is director of the economic opportunity program at Demos, a public-policy research group. "Someone sees a
25-year-old buy a plasma-screen TV at Best Buy, and they think every 25-year-old is buying a plasma-screen TV at Best Buy."
There's a blame-the-victim attitude at work, too, says William Strauss, co-author of Millennials Rising, a 2000 book that identified
the generation born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
"There's the common misconception that they
have these debts because they're buying iPods or cable TV," Strauss says. "It's not that. It's student loans and housing."
What exactly is tougher about the financial
challenges facing today's young adults? Shireman of the Project on Student Debt points to:
And they use credit cards to help pay for
books and other items. 1/2 of all graduates in 2004 used credit cards for school expenses, the American Council on Education
found.
Thirty years ago, a male college graduate
could make the equivalent of $51,223 a year in 2004 inflation-adjusted dollars. In 2004, he earned less: $50,700, according
to the NCES. Wages for women, though, have risen.
-
Rising home
prices. It takes a greater portion of the average income to buy a median-price home today. In 1970, it was 17%; in
2005, 22.4%. The median price of a home was $23,000 in 1970. Adjusted for inflation, that's $115,770 - barely more than 1/2
the median price of $219,000 in 2005.
"Twentysomethings now are crunched in ways
older people were not," says Cathy Stocker, co-author of The Quarterlifer's Companion, a book for twentysomethings.
"The cost of education has far outpaced income, and housing costs have skyrocketed. They're crunched from all directions."
A tad too protected?
Twentysomethings tend to think differently, depending on their age.
Older twentysomethings are part of so-called
Generation X, which includes those born from the early '60s to the early '80s. They grew up at a time when layoffs and divorce were hitting families hard. As a result, most of them tend to be realistic about company loyalty (they're not counting on it) or Social Security (they're not counting on it) or even their family's ability to care for them (they don't even want to ask).
Independence and skepticism run high. "Even the tail end of the Gen Xers can't imagine living with their parents again," says Floren of
Experience. "They'd rather pitch a tent."
Younger twentysomethings, those about 25 and
younger, are part of the Millennials, also known as Generation Y. More dependent on their parents, they've grown up in what some see as overprotective households. Their parents even have a nickname, "helicopter
parents," for the way they hover.
That's left a group of young twentysomethings
who tend to be casually optimistic about their future - no matter what.
"They expect things to be given to them," Floren says. "Even Gen Xers are ticked off by their sense of entitlement. They think: 'What's
wrong with you? Why don't you just dive in?' "
In financial matters, people in their 20s
- both younger and older twentysomethings - say they're more interested today in saving than twentysomethings were just 10
years ago, says Monica Kirgan, vice president of the Principal Financial Group.
But that doesn't mean they're actually saving.
"They would rather spend than save, and they're
spending like crazy," Kirgan says. "They view saving for retirement as something old people do."
That said, when asked in a survey by American
Century mutual fund company - "What would you do with $5,000?" - 58% of Gen Xers and 35% of Millennials said "pay off bills."
"Perhaps they're not as frivolous as we all
thought," says Donna Byers, senior vice president of American Century.
In Los Angeles, Gregory Cendana is canvassing
the UCLA campus to get signatures on a petition to lower student fees at California universities. Those fees, he says, have
risen nearly 80% in 4 years.
"We want to make sure that the folks we have
in office will be accountable to students and will care about education," says Cendana, 20, a sociology major who's on the Campus Progress student advisory
board. He says they've registered 2,400 students to vote, the largest in years.
Across the country, students have been testifying
at U.S. Education Department hearings, wearing "I'm drowning in debt" T-shirts.
A social issue
The U.S. Student Association (USSA) wants
the government to boost student Pell grants, cut interest rates on government-backed loans (now
6.8%), and offer more forgiving repayment options, including graduated payments so those who earn less early
in their careers aren't unduly burdened. Right now, student-loan debt is like a fixed-rate mortgage: The payment is the same on the first month as on the last month.
And they want payment plans that consider
the effect of children on a family's monthly student-loan payment.
Other student advocate groups also want higher
tax credits for student debt and help for students who choose lower-paying careers such as social work, teaching or public
service. They're upset that Congress this year cut $12.7 billion from student-loan programs, the largest cut in history.
The high level of student-loan debt is "on
the brink of becoming an unacceptable social issue," says Strauss, and it's one, he says, older generations must address.
"It's the single greatest problem facing this
generation."
source site: click here
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Young adults
ages 18-22 enrolled full-time in college were more likely than their peers not enrolled full time to use alcohol in the past
month, to binge drink, and to drink heavily.
2005 SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health
AMERICA'S YOUTH AT 21: SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, TRAINING,
AND EMPLOYMENT TRANSITIONS BETWEEN AGES 20 AND 21
At age 21, women are more likely to be enrolled in
college than men, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U.S. Department of Labor reported today.
Among 21-year-olds not enrolled in college, men are
more likely than women to be employed in a civilian job
or serving in the military.
These findings are from the first 10 annual rounds
of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which
is a nationally representative survey of about 9,000 young men and women who were born during
the years 1980 to 1984.
These respondents were ages 12 to 17 when first interviewed
in 1997, and ages 21 to 27 when interviewed for the 10th
time in 2006-07. This release focuses on the school enrollment
and employment experiences of these individuals from the October when they were age 20 to the October when they were age 21.
Respondents were age 20 in October during the years
2000 to 2005 and age 21 in October from 2001 to 2006.
Highlights from the longitudinal survey include:
Educational Attainment at Age 21
This difference in college-enrollment rates stems from three factors:
(1) Women were more likely to have graduated from high school;
(2) among high school graduates, women were
more likely to attend college; and
(3) once enrolled in college, women were less
likely than men to leave college between school years.
Blacks and Hispanics were less likely than
whites to be enrolled in college during the October when they were age
21.
44% of whites were enrolled in college compared
with 30% of blacks and 29% of Hispanics.
Schooling and Training between Ages 20 and 21
The level of educational attainment when a
person first left school does not always indicate his or her
final level of educational attainment.
Some people delay their college enrollment for a
year or more after high school, and others enroll in college
and then leave before earning a degree.
82% of individuals attending college during
the October when they were age 20 were still attending college by the
following October, while 1% were enrolled in a training program and 17%
were not enrolled in college or in a training program.
Instead of attending school, some young adults
enroll in training to further their skills.
Employment and Training at Age 21 of Young Adults Not Enrolled
in School
At age 21, labor force status differed substantially
between high school dropouts, high school graduates who had never attended
college, and individuals who had left college. Those with more education
were more likely to be employed in civilian jobs or in the military.
In the October they were age 21, about 6 of 10 high school dropouts were employed in civilian jobs or in the military.
At this same time, 72% of high school graduates who had never enrolled
in college were employed in civilian jobs, and another 6% were serving
in the Armed Forces, including 10% of all men.
Among high school graduates who had some college
experience but were not enrolled in college during the October when they
were age 21, nearly 8 of 10 were employed in civilian jobs, and 4% were serving
in the Armed Forces.
Within each of these educational groups, men
were more likely to be working or serving in the Armed Forces in the October
when age 21 than women.
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69% of male high school dropouts
were employed in the civilian labor force or serving in the Armed Forces compared to 50%
of female dropouts.
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Among high school graduates, 82% of men and
72% of women who had never enrolled in college were employed or in the
military, as were 85% of men and 79% of women who had attended some college
but were no longer enrolled.
Enrollment in training also varies by educational level.
Employment Attachment of Young Adults Not Enrolled
in School
Among individuals who were not enrolled in school
during the Octobers when they were ages 20 or 21,
employment status varied considerably by level of educational attainment.
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24% of high
school dropouts were not employed in either October, and 43% were employed in both Octobers.
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Among high school graduates ages 20 or 21
who were not enrolled in college, 10% were not employed in either October,
and 68% were employed in both Octobers.
High school graduates not enrolled in college
during the Octobers when they were ages 20 or 21were employed an average
of 77% of the weeks between the October when they were age 20 and the
following October.
By comparison, high school dropouts were employed
57% of the weeks between the October when they were age 20 and the following
October.
Regardless of the level of educational attainment, men were employed a larger percentage of weeks than women, and whites
were employed a larger percentage of weeks than blacks or Hispanics.
Men were more likely than women to work 40 hours or more per week. Male high school dropouts worked 40 hours or more 47%
of the weeks between the October when they
were 20 and the following October compared with 28% of weeks for female dropouts.
Duration of Longest
Job Held
-
5% of young adults who had never enrolled in college by age 21
also had not held a job since dropping out of or graduating from high
school.
-
41% had held a job for 1 year or less since
they first left school.
In this report, a job is defined as an uninterrupted
period of work with a particular employer.
Similar proportions of high school dropouts
and high school graduates had never held a job since leaving school. High
school dropouts were more likely than high school graduates to have held
a job for 1 year or less. Dropouts were less likely than graduates to have held a job for
2 years or longer.
source site: click here
College Mental Health Statistics
Nearly 1/2 of all college students report
feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble functioning.
If left untreated depression can lead to
suicide. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for those aged 15-24 and the 2nd leading cause of death of college students.
Many young people are coming to college with
an existing diagnosis and treatment history. Some of those students might not have made it beyond high school in previous
generations, but this means that more young people need access to comprehensive mental health care.
According to a 2004 survey by the American College
Health Association, nearly 1/2 of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble
functioning, and 14.9% meet the criteria for clinical depression. This marks an increase of 4.6% in the number of students
who reported having ever been diagnosed with depression over a 4-year time span.
Of the 14.9% of students
who reported having ever been diagnosed with depression:
-
- 35.8% said they had been diagnosed with depression
in the last school year.
-
- 25.2% said they are currently in therapy for
depression.
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- 38% said they are currently taking medication
for depression.
Students reported
during the last school year feeling the following:
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Over 60% of the students reported feeling
things were hopeless one or more times.
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Almost 40% of the men and 50% of the women
reported feeling so depressed that they had difficulty functioning one or more times.
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10% of the students
reported seriously considering attempting suicide at least one time.
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The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism report that unintentional fatal injuries related to alcohol use increased from about 1,500 in 1998 to more than
1,700 in 2001 among U.S. college students aged 18-24. Over the same period national surveys indicate the number of students
who drove under the influence of alcohol increased by 500,000, from 2.3 million to 2.8 million.
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According to a 1997 national study conducted by
the Harvard School of Public Health, nearly half of all college students surveyed drank 4 or 5 drinks in one sitting within
the previous 2 weeks.
Students who live in a fraternity
or sorority house are the heaviest drinkers – 86% of fraternity residents and 80% of sorority residents report binge
drinking.
39% of college women binge drank
within a 2-week period compared with 50% of college men.
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Young people ages 18 to 25 have the highest
prevalence of binge (38.7%) and heavy (13.6%) drinking, with a peak rate (48.2% for binge and 17.8% for heavy drinking) occurring
at age 21, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
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According to a recent study in the Archives
of General Psychiatry, 18% of U.S. College students (1=24% of men, 13% of women) suffered from clinically significant
alcohol-related problems, compared with 15% of their non-college attending peers (22% of men, 9% of women).
source site: click here
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