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The summer of 2011 was the worst on record for teen employment, with 24 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 19 looking for work, well over double the national unemployment rate.
With unemployment high across the nation, entry-level jobs that typically attract teens and college-aged Americans are now also being sought by older, experienced workers who have been laid off or are seeking a second job.
The problem of teen unemployment is more serious than experiencing a few boring summer days and not enough pocket money to go see the latest superhero blockbuster.
“There are consequences,” says Michael Saltsman, a research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute in Washington, D.C. “Teens who have a spell of unemployment now run a greater risk of being unemployed in the future, and have a greater risk of earning lower wages down the line.”
‘Generation Limbo’
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Census data shows employment among young adults 16-29 was 55.3 percent, compared with 67.3 percent in 2000. It's the lowest since the end of World War II. |
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Those consequences have led some people to dub Americans between 16 and 34 “Generation Limbo” because they are left waiting for the economy to pick up if they want to start their careers in traditional fields. Like older workers, many teens and graduates are applying for jobs they are overqualified for, uninterested in and are most likely not to going to get.
The inability to find steady, meaningful work has large societal implications. Today, 6 million Americans between 25 and 34 live at home with their parents -- an increase of 25 percent from before the recession.
As a result, young people are placing more financial burdens on their parents and marrying significantly later in life, according to the Pew Research Center.
Education cuts hinder competition
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At least 43 states have implemented cuts to public colleges and universities and/or made large increases in college tuition to make up for insufficient state funding. |
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Many teens in middle school and high school are finding that as hard economic times fall on the cities and towns where they live, budget cuts are affecting their schools.
In one Pennsylvania school district, 33 teachers lost their jobs and five of the district’s 13 schools closed as a result of massive budget cuts. And, some key classes were cut, causing some students to worry about their futures.
“I'm really angry actually about it, because…I'm going to be way behind all the other students in my college classes. I'm collectively forgetting all the things I learned in physics one,” said student Jared Strufft. See more of the report here.
Youth take to the streets in protest
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The protests against Wall Street gained new momentum, when union members and students joined the demonstration and marched through the streets of lower Manhattan. |
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The high unemployment rate has caused many young people to join the “Occupy Wall Street” protests that have swept the country in recent weeks. People from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, who call themselves “the other 99 percent,” are protesting the profits the wealthiest one percent of Americans have been enjoying.
According to analysis of more than 1,000 entries of the Occupy Wall Street Tumblr by economist blogger Mike Konczal, the average age of the protesters is 29 and the median is 26.
Although there is no quick fix for the country’s economic woes in sight, it has become a front-and-center issue for America’s youth and for politicians looking ahead to the 2012 elections for the presidency and Congress.
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Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
