The Wall Street Journal is running a series on “Generation Jobless,” highlighting the disproportionate number of young people without jobs. From one of today’s pieces:

Summer Forbes, 19 years old, dropped out of her Hartford, Conn., high school at 17. It ‘wasn’t for me,’ she says. She spends her days hanging out with friends, completing the requirements for her diploma through an online program and checking Craigslist for job ads.
Two years ago, she managed to find a temporary job she liked at a day-care center. But when it ended in the summer of 2009, she found that she couldn’t get back into the field without her certification for early-childhood education.

Isn’t this one of the problems hobbling our economy?

Why does a young woman need a “certification” — which doubtless requires her going into debt — or even a high-school diploma to babysit pre-schoolers?

If Ms. Forbes likes children, is willing to work, and isn’t on the local sex offenders’ list, then she is qualified for this job, certification or not.

— Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.