Young Adults Are Falling Behind in U.S. Workforce, Says National League of Cities Report

9/23/2003

From: Michael Reinemer, 202-626-3003 or 703-966-9574, or John Pionke, 202-626-3051, both of the National League of Cities

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 -- The nation's teenagers and young adults are being left behind in the U.S. labor market, suffering greater job losses than their older counterparts during the recent economic downturn and earning substantially less than their peers a generation ago. These are conclusions of a new report released by the National League of Cities based on research by Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies.

The report, "Leaving Young Workers Behind," finds that with rising numbers of young Americans, continuing weak labor markets, and an increasing premium on education, the job market prospects are likely to get worse for young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24, especially those with limited education.

"Young adults play a huge role in our success, as individual communities and as a nation," said Charles Lyons, selectman from Arlington, Mass. and first vice president of the National League of Cities. "But for too many young people, the odds are stacked against their success. We have a responsibility in the public sector and in the private sector to help them."

The report issues five key findings:

-- Joblessness and unemployment are widespread among young adults. 43 percent of young adults face at least one serious labor-market problem such as unemployment, part-time jobs due to economic conditions, or inadequate weekly earnings.

-- Earnings for young men have eroded substantially in recent decades. Adjusting for inflation, young men with no more than a high school education earned 25 percent less in 2000 than young men earned in 1973.

-- Young Americans have been hardest hit by the latest economic downturn and the jobless recovery. For instance, summer employment in 2003 was down approximately 1 million compared to 2000.

-- Growing numbers of young immigrants compound the challenge. Young foreign-born adults are less likely to have obtained a high school diploma and/or to be enrolled in high school or college, compared to their native-born counterparts.

-- Fewer high school students are able to gain footholds in the job market, especially minorities. In 2002, only one in six black high schools students had a job compared to one in five Latino students and one in three white students.

The National League of Cities report recommends that policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels take action to improve labor market conditions for young adults through strategic investments in education and training, job creation, and support services.

The report says current public investments in young adults are inadequate. Funding for the federal summer jobs program for economically disadvantaged youth has been effectively eliminated, and support for state initiatives under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act has been allowed to lapse. While the nation's core employment and training program - the federal Workforce Investment Act - remains in place, appropriations are so limited that only a small fraction of economically disadvantaged or jobless youth, especially in inner-city neighborhoods, can benefit from the education, training, or employment opportunities it provides.

"The continuation of existing policies that largely ignore the plight of these young adults will not improve their labor market prospects," said Dr. Andrew Sum, co-director of Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies. "It is hard to envision a shift in the economic fortunes of young adults without strong government and private sector interventions on their behalf."

The National League of Cities recommends several steps that municipal leaders can take to improve the labor market outlook for young adults with limited education:

-- Forge broad partnerships with local business leaders and community-based groups to expand the range of work and learning opportunities available to all youth, especially disadvantaged youth.

-- Support public job-creation efforts that supplement private-sector job commitments and thereby broaden the range of paid work experience opportunities available to young Americans.

-- Expand alternative education options and pathways to post-secondary education so all youth can get the skills they need to compete. Strong networks of alternative schools are needed to reach young people who drop out of their regular high schools or are struggling in traditional academic settings.

-- Work with schools, adult education agencies, community colleges, and community groups to help young immigrants. Early outreach can connect them to support networks before they quit school or become entangled in the juvenile or criminal justice systems.

For the full report and the research studies underlying it, see NLC's Web site, http://www.nlc.org.

The National League of Cities is the largest national organization for American cities and towns. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 cities, towns and villages of all sizes, from New York City to Bee Cave, Texas, which collectively serve 225 million people.