article_snippet: The commonly held belief is that with hard work and a good education, a young person in America can get a good job.
article_snippet: But despite falling unemployment, college grads age 22 to 27 are stuck in low-paying jobs that don't even require a college degree.
article_snippet: The percentage of young people languishing in low-skill, low-paying jobs is 44%, a 20-year high.
article_snippet: Only 36% of college grads have jobs that pay at least $45,000, a sharp decline from the 1990s, after adjusting for inflation.
article_snippet: Perhaps most depressingly, the percentage of young people making below $25,000 has topped 20%, worse than in 1990.
article_snippet: In other words, those with a bachelor's diploma were better off before the digital revolution.
article_snippet: If this comes as a surprise, that's because images from popular culture push the idea that young college graduates are shrugging off bad employment prospects with young college graduates do-it-yourself attitude.
article_snippet: In fact, the percentage of people under 30 who own private businesses has reached a 24-year low.
article_snippet: And those who are punished more than anyone else are recent college graduates, whose lifetime earning potential has already suffered an irreversible setback.