In my interviews, I asked people how they felt about the economy today, and what they thought it would be like in the future, after they graduated from college and were looking for jobs. Most people spoke about their worries for the future after college, and if they could find work in the competitive economic climate. One saying “I’m very nervous about my financial future after graduating college. Everyone told me that if I worked hard and went to a good school I would be financially secure, but I’m no longer sure that’s true. I’ll be graduating with a mountain of debt and there’s no guarantee I’ll have a good job.” Many shared the same concern of financial security, and some people mentioned friends and family members not being able to find decent jobs despite spending thousands upon thousands on a college degree. A lot of college students now have to live with their parents after they graduate. It’s simply gotten much harder and much more expensive to have a good career in the past decade or so. 

We also spoke about the coronavirus crisis and how it is affecting the economy so drastically, one girl saying, “With coronavirus on the rise, I worry about the economic future of our country. Stocks have already crashed and a lot of industries are suffering because of the virus. I can only hope we recover from this.” Another one stating “I’m freaking out, because I have a lot of money invested in stocks that are tanking, it kind of feels like everything is going to shit you know.” As the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate, it doesn’t look good for the economic future of our world.

Whether we are looking at today or in the future, many people believe their economic prospects aren’t looking the best. From my interviews, the consensus of people’s feelings is that they either threw money away on college expenses that, in the end, don’t benefit as much as they thought, or threw it away on stocks that are dropping like flies. The gist being their money is going in the garbage.