Gen Y: Broke, Confused and Educated in Unwanted Fields?

There are so many articles in newspapers these days about:

• Gen Y not being in touch with reality
• Gen Y not studying in the right courses in North America
• Gen Y not having proper career focus and goals 

Some of the links to such articles are here:

• http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/university-degree-still-good-investment-163927242.html
• http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/pay-day-/inflation-gen-y-no-idea-coming-191511340.html
• http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/students-continue-choose-degrees-low-earning-potential-cibc-174640570.html

In India, I remember, people always encouraged their kids to study Medicine or Engineering. Not Law, not commerce, not arts, not sociology or philosophy. Just Medicine and Engineering. There were / are no trade schools in India. People just learn from their parents or mentors. Guess what are the fields in demand, in the world right now? Medicine and Engineering.

There is something wrong in North America. Why do most students not chase engineering or healthcare fields? They chase arts and social sciences. 

Some other scary sentences I read recently (from the articles at the link above):

• “It’s not an advantage to have a degree anymore, but it’s a disadvantage if you don’t have it,” says O’Grady.
• As if crushing debt and limited job prospects were not enough, generation Y has something else to worry about - inflation.
• Too few students are graduating from programs that are in high demand.
• Today's students have not gravitated to more financially advantageous fields in a way that reflects the changing reality of the labour market
• Students are making DUMB choices: they are continuing to pursue fields where upon graduation, they aren’t getting a relative edge in terms of income prospects.
• The average Canadian household currently owes more than $1.60 for every dollar of disposable income it takes in each year
• Inflation: Gen Y has no idea what’s coming