I agree with you somewhat. Employers are offering poor terms because they can, and the previous generations certainly had it easier finding a job. What you're describing is accurate, but there's nothing we as individuals can do to change that.
The problem is that people are doing degrees in something /that they wanted to do/ instead of what the market was desperate for, and then they expect there to be jobs in those fields when they finish. Instead, look for fields which ARE hiring and go for them, early. However there's not much you can do once you made the wrong choice already except wait out the recession or move to where there are jobs.
Don't agree with the firing old people unless they are no longer good at their jobs, because when the economy picks back up you'll have those perfectly employable people being paid to not work.
On social policy, pensions DO need to be greater, unemployment benefits need to be greater for recent graduates at least until jobs become more available, and tuition fees need to come way, way down. Especially for courses that lead to jobs in demand. I like the idea that the people who go to college to do Sociology and drink will be subsidising the people who make an economically minded choice of major.
