In Kentucky, 110,000 teens and young adults and nearly 6.5 million in the U.S., are not enrolled in school and not employed, even part-time. These youth are failing to gain the skills employers need in the 21st century, and their untapped potential makes them less likely to become the productive citizens and tax payers Kentucky needs, according to a new KIDS COUNT report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Between 2000 and 2011 the number of 16-19 year-olds in Kentucky not in school and not employed rose by 3 percent, however the number of idle young adults ages 20-24 grew by 88 percent. For both age groups, Kentucky’s rate of disconnected youth exceeds the national rate.
Many of these young people ages 16-24 face numerous obstacles, according to the report, Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity. Often described as disconnected youth, they have difficulty finding employment because they face greater competition from older workers for increasingly scarce entry-level jobs, especially in light of the recession, and lack the higher skill set required for the well-paying jobs that are available. They often don’t graduate from high school on time or ready for college, further decreasing their employment options.
The lack of education, opportunity and connection to school or work not only has long-term implications for these youth, but for the strength of our economy and state as well. The report shows that being disconnected from education and work during early adulthood results in delayed and diminished earning potential. Disconnected youth can present a significant cost to taxpayers, as government spends more to support them. One study estimates that for every 16-year-old out of work and out of school, the future burden to taxpayers is $258,040. The total taxpayer burden for all disconnected youth ages 16-24 is an unimaginable $1.56 trillion.
What makes this an issue worth paying attention to now? First, the prevalence of the problem has ballooned. Youth employment is at its lowest level since World War II. Second, the changing job market makes it a more pressing problem for current and future generations of young people than the preceding generations. The report puts it well:
“Forty years ago, a teenager leaving high school – with or without a diploma – could find a job in a local factory. Twenty years ago, even as manufacturing jobs moved offshore, young people could still gain a foothold in the workforce through neighborhood stores and restaurants. Amid the housing boom of the past decade, youth with some training could find a career track in the construction field. But today – with millions of jobs lost and experienced workers scrambling for every available position – America’s young people stand last in line for jobs.”
While young people struggle to find any type of starter job, businesses struggle to find the skilled workers needed to compete in the ever-changing economy. Increasingly, higher paying jobs require more skills and qualifications than many young people have. In the next decade, more than 75 percent of job openings will require education and experience beyond high school. Despite current high levels of unemployment, 30 percent of American companies had job positions open that they could not fill for more than six months, according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute. The same report predicts that by 2020, the U.S. will have a surplus of 6.5 million unemployed individuals who did not finish high school, but will be 1.5 million short of workers with college and graduate degrees.
In Fayette County, over 30 percent of young adults ages 18-24 have a high school diploma or less. While some may be able to secure well-paying jobs with a high school diploma and technical training, national trends indicate the economy is evolving and a more educated workforce will be needed.
Additional county-level data shows the impact of the recent recession on young people’s employment status. In Fayette County, unemployment for teenagers and young adults increased after the recession hit Kentucky in 2008, while employment decreased. While it is understandable that teenagers 16 to 19 are in school focusing on getting an education and may put off getting a job, the employment statistics for young adults are much more troubling. These are individuals that have completed high school and maybe college, and should be active members of the workforce.
What do we do to recover these disconnected youth and unleash their potential? The report emphasizes the need to provide multiple, flexible pathways to success for young people. It also advocates creating opportunities for youth, through schools or other systems, to gain early job experience though such avenues as community service, internships and summer and part-time work. In Kentucky, many sectors, organizations and agencies must come together to reconnect youth to education and employment. The business community can work with the K-12 community, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, universities, and economic development and workforce agencies to create new pathways for disconnected youth to get the education and job skills they need to find lasting, self-sustaining employment.
Specifically, local workforce communities and education agencies can partner to create supports that help young people stay motivated to graduate from high school or college by investing in them as future employees. Employer-sponsored “earn to learn” programs provide opportunities for youth to develop workplace skills so they come out the other end prepared to enter the workforce – providing businesses a talent pipeline. The report cites the Metropolitan College program in Louisville, created by UPS to bring in new workers. While the program pays 100 percent of undergraduate tuition at the city’s public colleges and provides money for textbooks, UPS receives a 50 percent state tax credit for those expenses and has a reliable workforce of part-time employees for their shipping hub. Public and private investors can also work together to create social enterprises – organizations that focus on creating jobs and generating revenue. Goodwill is a well-known example, with 165 independent, community-based organizations running more than 2,600 retail stores with donated goods.
If ever there were a time to undertake a sustained effort to strengthen our systems and create new opportunities for young people whose needs have been neglected, it is now. The world is changing. The global economy demands more highly skilled workers, and advancing technology only raises the stakes. Our nation can no longer afford to forsake the talents of our youth if we hope to be economically competitive in the global economy and if we want to ensure that all young people have access to the American dream of economic prosperity.
Katie Carter is a Senior Policy Analyst, Kentucky Youth Advocates