DEMOGRAPHY
The baby boom has come of age. Between 1960 and 1980 the number of
youth aged 15-24 rose from 12 percent of the population to over 17
percent. The sudden expansion in the supply of young workers this period
might be put forth as an explanation for the declining employment rates
of some youth. To absorb the extra workers, demand would have had to
expand considerably. Some economic reasoning would suggest that the
relatively greater number of young workers could be employed only if their
wage rates fell relative to the wage rates of adult workers.We believe this large demographic bulge surely had an impact on the
youth labor market. Relative wage rates of young white workers did fall.
And quite possibly the occupational choices of young workers were affected.….
Between 1961 and 1971 youth increased from 12 to 16 percent of the population [note – these are the broadly define “youth” category who would also be young adults in the late ’70s into the ’80s]
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN THE SEVENTIES: THE
CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUNG ADULTS
David T. Elivood
David A. Wise
Working Paper No. 1055
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
This NBER paper from 1983 echoes the large cohort of youth and young adults entering the workforce simultaneously in the post Baby Boom era did have effects on youth employment, wages, and future employment opportunities, contrary to assertions of some in Gen Z who claim that earlier generations never had to fight for a job, never lived through a recession, blah blah blah. See How to show you know nothing of history without saying you know nothing of history – Social Panic
