As of last week, my father is now a full-time retiree. I was sitting with him last weekend, asking him how it feels to be retired, and he started telling me how he was annoyed because his company reduced his pension payments by some metric based on how much social security he would receive.

Back up a second there Dad - you get a pension AND social security? I know that I won’t be getting either!

Not that I’m blaming my dad specifically - he’s sacrificed a lot of his retirement savings to move us to the United States so that my siblings and I could have more opportunities.

But not only are we paying the pensions and social security checks of new retirees, my generation is also paying with a higher-than-average unemployment rate while older people continue working longer. And no wonder, with articles by the hundreds this terrifying them about all the ways their retirement savings will not be recovering in the foreseeable future. And even if they have enough savings, there are hundreds more articles to terrify them about the long-term care costs they can face, how they won’t be able to sell their home and move to a smaller one for retirement like they planned…

So I don’t blame the old folks for taking care of themselves, but it’s creating a tough starting point for the younger generations. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate for workers ages 20 to 24 was 15.5% in 2010, and for workers 25 to 29 it was 10.9% compared to only 7.7% for 45 to 55 year olds and only 7.1% for 55 to 64 year olds. (Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

So what can we do to fight back?

Live with mom and dad while coming up with some way to make a side income. Many young folks have the advantage of parents who have a home with enough room for them to come back too. Maybe your parents aren’t thrilled to have you back, but these next suggestions will be keeping you too busy to be loafing around their house playing video games all day, so they’ll probably discover that you can be quite a nice roommate.

Be entrepreneurial. America’s entrepreneurial nature is what will eventually get us out of this recession. If you have some good ideas, put them into practice. Every day I read about people on Etsy who are making enough with crafting to pay the rent. There are bloggers out there quitting their day jobs as we speak.

Some guy pulled me over in a parking lot last week and offered to pull all the dents out of my car and fix the paint job right there. He did a great job, and make some income off of the transaction. It’s not a steady job, but it’s better than nothing, and could turn into something much bigger.

Take a job you wouldn’t normally want, to get some work experience under your belt. It’s easier to get the job you want when you’re already employed, plus any kind of job gets you some pay, gets you out there meeting people and networking, and adds some references to your resume.

Whatever job you can get, or if you have a job you want, do it the best. If everyone goes home at 5:30, stay until 6:00 to 6:30 to get that work done. Make sure your work product is good. Just because you took a job you didn’t want doesn’t mean you should just show up and slack off and take the paycheck. The more people you can impress, the more opportunities will appear for you.

Always remember, plenty of companies are hiring, but they have options. Make yourself the most attractive option, so when you do find a job opening you’ll be top of the hiring list.