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From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Young adults increasingly bear the brunt of inflation,”

“Buying power is actually going down, especially for those on the lower rungs of the work force.

For blue-collar and nonmanagement jobs, the bottom 80 percent of workers, average weekly earnings after the effect of inflation fell 2.7 percent during the year ended in September.

Going forward, Mercer Human Resources Consulting recently forecast that U.S. workers will see salary increases next year of 3.6 percent. But if inflation stays at its current rate, it’ll be more than the pay raise and workers will be worse off in 2006.

Then there’s the way certain costs cut into young people’s budgets.

First, look at the budget for a young person. It’s stretched to the limit and beyond. Households headed by someone under the age of 25 spend, on average, $1,916 more than their annual income of $20,680. That’s from the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of consumer expenditures, which was last published for 2003.

Their income is very low. By comparison, the average income for all households of any age is two and a half times greater than what the under-25 households take in. And the average household has a budget that works. After expenses, the bureau says, the average household has $10,311 left over.

Now, consider what rent would mean to the family budget for those two groups. If the average household paid $1,000 a month rent, it would eat up 24 percent of annual income. But to the younger household, the same rent would devour 58 percent of annual income. And rents are starting to increase in South Florida.

Then there’s debt. With the cost of a four-year education at a public college now more than 59 percent higher than in 1990, today’s average graduating senior is $17,600 in debt from student loans, said the Center for Economic Policy Research. The interest cost on those loans is rising, too.

Young people certainly don’t have much room in their budgets for such shocks as a health crisis. Yet many entry-level jobs don’t include health insurance benefits.

The latest blow, to young people and to everyone, comes from suddenly higher gas prices.”