I like my headline better than UPI's... 9/4/2006 NewsTrack - Business Low wages complicate debt payment http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060904-011132-5330r
PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A Princeton University economist says an unstable job market and low entry-level wages are adding to the woes of U.S. workers struggling to make loan payments. Cecilia Rouse, who is also a co-editor of an upcoming book on the economics of early adulthood, said wages haven't kept up with inflation, delaying many workers' long-term plans, The New York Times reported Monday. "People are getting married later, they're having children later, and they're buying houses later," Rouse said. "There's been a lengthening of the transition to adulthood, and it is very possible that what has happened in the economy is leading to some of these changes." Labor Department data showed a 4 percent drop in entry-level wage amounts for high school and college graduates between 2001 and 2005. The number of college graduates receiving health and pension benefits in entry-level jobs has also shown a sharp decrease, The Economic Policy Institute said.
