The March 14 issue of CQ Researcher contains an extensive report on youth unemployment and related issues. While the in-depth article contains numerous compelling stories and much important research, here are the nine most important facts about the state of young people and their participation in the labor force:
1. Still too high: Youth unemployment is at 15%, meaning nearly 6 million of America's workers from ages 16 to 24 are not working and not in school.
2. Declaration of dependence: High youth unemployment leads to delayed marriages, depressed home ownership rates and an increased inability to move out of parental homes and establishing independence.
3. So why'd I even go to college?: The number of young people with college degrees who work minimum wage jobs has more than doubled in the past five years.
4. Seriously, China?: According to Dow Jones reporter Riva Froymovich, millennial workers should expect lower wages, less job security and a higher cost of living when compared to similar workers in China and Brazil.
5. I'd work more if I could: The number of 20- to 24-year-olds working part-time because full-time work isn't available to them has doubled in the past decade.
6. Who pays for all of this?: Higher rates of youth unemployment lead to increased tax burdens for other workers, as governments forgo income tax revenue, Social Security and Medicare taxes and have to pay out more in welfare and unemployment insurance costs. It is estimated that high youth unemployment costs various governments $25 billion a year.
7. Sorry, we're not hiring right now: Youth unemployment grew much faster during the recession for African Americans and Latinos.
8. Home, but not alone: The percentage of adults 24 and under who live with their parents rose 10% in the past five years.
9. #HigherEdNotDebt: Student loan debt tripled over the past decade and is now more than $1 trillion.
If you have a subscription to CQ Researcher, you can read the full report online.
Tahir Duckett, national young-worker coordinator for the AFL-CIO, is quoted in the report, explaining how youth unemployment isn't just a problem for young people:
What's actually happening with young people is they're not only dealing with the short-term impacts of unemployment, but it's hitting them at a time when it's really important for them to step into adulthood. That's actually holding the economy back in a major way. Not buying their first houses, living at home with their parents—that's a drag on the entire economy.