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OUR OPINION: In recession, the kids might be all right

When looking at all the effects of this recession, one that's hard to predict is its impact on those who are just entering the workforce.

Members of the millennial generation (sometimes called Generation Y) are starting their careers in the most difficult work environment since the Great Depression.

While overall unemployment hovers around 10 percent, it is much worse for the people without experience on their resumes. About 37 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds have been underemployed or out of work during the last two years, which is the highest rate in more than 30 years.

Will a generation of college graduates who have been forced to move back with their parents be ready to take the reins when the economy picks up? People who study these issues say there is reason to believe that young workers will be the first to bounce back.

Having grown up in a period of boom, bust and the housing bubble, younger workers are less likely than their parents to have saddled themselves with hard-to-sell overpriced housing, making them ready to move to where the jobs are.

They also, by necessity, have been more interested in starting their own businesses rather than waiting for the perfect job. That could help when it's time to find where they fit in the economy that emerges.

The months ahead promise more challenges, as workers navigate through problems like flat incomes, declining home values and excess consumer debt.

It appears as though our youngest workers, who are having a hard time now, may be best positioned to prosper later.