Yet, more fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic. A new Pew Research poll shows that more than 2/3 of Americans think today's children will be financially worse off than their parents.
If that's not bad enough, the survey says that 71% of Americans think our current economic situation in the U.S. is bad. That's not good.
Ray Perryman, economist and President of the Perryman Group told KTRH, "The gap between rich and poor is widening. It's hard to get your arms around just how fast, and how far this economy fell. Basically, we shut down a hundred trillion dollar global economic engine, and restarting it is not easy."
A lot of this actually started before the pandemic, as U.S. education numbers were in decline. But now, after a year of being locked down with no school, kids are at a serious disadvantage and Perryman is concerned that some will never catch up. "There's no question it's done a lot of damage" Perryman told KTRH, "I think probably the biggest damage is the abysmal school statistics we saw from last year, and for some kids at critical ages if you don't make that up very soon, then it's going to be hard to ever catch up and that will follow you all the way through life."
But all is not lost. Perryman says it's important for parents to help their kids get caught up, whatever it takes. And once they identify what their gifts, talents, and skills are, to make sure they train them up because training and education are going to be even more of a key in the future. "Because of automation and technology and all the directions we are moving right now" Perryman said, "Those who are able to obtain an education, and a good education, are going to have a huge advantage, even more than in the past."
Hopefully, it will lead to a better future than the one that is being predicted.