The Depression in the Nation's Teen Labor Market and the 2009 Summer Job Outlook: The Case for A Massive New Youth Workforce Development Response in All Job Sectors,

The nation's teens (16-19) and young adults (20-29 years old) have borne the brunt of the employment losses in the current recession, and teens and many young adults (20-24) fared quite poorly in the labor market from 2001-2008 An unprecedented "age twist" in employment rates took place in the nation over the past 8 years with older workers (55+) improving their employment rates strongly while teens and 20-24 year old males reached new post-World War II lows.3 The substantial growth in the labor market problems of the nation's teens over the past nine years can be characterized as a "labor market depression" rather than simply as a recession. This research paper is designed to briefly illustrate the steep declines in teen employment rates over the 2000-2009 period, to highlight the severe deterioration in the summer job market for teens between 2000-2008, to project the employment outlook for teens this summer, including the potential impacts of the ARRA youth jobs stimulus program, and to lay out alternative employment scenarios for the nation's teens in the years ahead, the job creation that will be needed to achieve these alternative teen labor market outcomes, and the types of public policies that will be required to make these youth employment outcomes possible.

Andrew Sum, Joseph McLaughlin, Sheila Palma, Ishwar Khatiwada, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts - June 2009

The Collapse of the Nation's Male Teen and Young Adult Labor Market, 2000-2009: The Lost Generation of Young Male Workers, Andrew Sum, Joseph McLaughlin, Sheila Palma, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University.

The nationâ??s male teens (16-19) have experienced a massive depression in their labor market conditions since 2000. In the June 2009 Employment Situation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the employment rate of the nationâ??s male teens had fallen to 27.6%, the lowest employment rate by far in the month of June at any time since 1948 (Chart 2). At no time in the countryâ??s post-World War II history had the June employment rate of male teens ever fallen below 30% and at no time prior to June 2002 had the June employment rate of male teens fallen below 40%. In June of 2000, 46% of the nationâ??s male teens were employed as were 50% of those near the peak of the cyclical boom in June 1989 and 54% of those in June 1978 when federal job creation programs for teens under the CETA legislation, the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977, and CETA public service employment programs were at their peak enrollment levels.6 The employment rate of male teens in June 2009 was barely one half as high as it was in June 1978 and close to 20 percentage points below its value in June 2000. This truly constitutes a labor market depression for male teens in the U.S.

This policy brief details how states can see a net reduction in costs by moving expenditures away from large, congruent care facilities (often called "training schools") for youth and investing in community-based alternatives. Such a resource realignment can reap better results for communities, taxpayers, and children. Evidence is growing that there are cost-effective policies and programs for intervening in the lives of delinquent youth which actually improve community safety and outcomes for children. While there is no silver bullet that will guarantee reductions in crime, policies that include prevention and intervention for youth in the community have been shown to have a positive public safety benefit. Major findings and recommendations for reform are included.

This Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis expands the existing research on disconnected youth. The analysis uses Current Population Survey (CPS) data to construct a definition of â??disconnected.â?Ì This definition includes noninstitutionalized youth ages 16 through 24 who did not work or attend school anytime during a previous year and are presently not working or in school (usually sometime in the first quarter of the current year).
Authors: Adrienne L. Fernandes, Thomas Gabe

Summary of minimum & maximum compulsory school age requirements for 50 U.S. states and DC, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
Author: Melodye Bush, Education Commission of the States

McKinsey's report, The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools, examines the dimensions and economic impact of the education achievement gap. While much controversy exists on the causes of the gap and on what the nation should do to address it, the full range of the achievement gap's character and consequences has been poorly understood. This report examines the dimensions of four distinct gaps in education: (1) between the United States and other nations, (2) between black and Latino students and white students, (3) between students of different income levels, and (4) between similar students schooled in different systems or regions.

The report finds that the underutilization of human potential as reflected in the achievement gap is extremely costly. Existing gaps impose the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession--one substantially larger than the deep recession the country is currently experiencing. For individuals, avoidable shortfalls in academic achievement impose heavy and often tragic consequences via lower earnings, poor health, and higher rates of incarceration.