New Report Shows Black Teens Lead Nation In Youth Unemployment

WHAT:      

As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the "War on Poverty" legislation, introduced by President Johnson during his State of the Union address on January, 8, 1964, a new report on teen unemployment is being released today showing that the progress made in employment of youth and young adults ages 16 to 24 has been lost over the past decade.

The report: Trends In Teen Employment In Chicago, Illinois And The United States, reveals that teens (age 16 to 19) have experienced unremitting drops in employment rates and have failed to capture any substantive job growth post Great Recession. Both the U.S. and Illinois teen employment rate dropped to 27% in 2012, continuing to track as the lowest employment rate in the nation's entire post-World War II history with Illinois among the ten highest state jobless rates in the nation.

While the overall trend of falling youth employment rates for all race-ethnic groups continued through 2012, Black teens had the lowest employment rates nationally:

• The employment rate of Black teens has sustained a declining trajectory dropping from 25% employed in 2006 to 18% in 2012. 
• The figures are bleakest for Black male teens with only 17% of Black males ages 16-19 employed in 2012.
• Only 13% of Black teens from low-income households (<$20,000) across the U.S. were employed in 2012.

WHO:        

The report is part of an ongoing series commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network based on new American Community Survey data and is being released at a hearing at the Chicago Urban League.

WHEN/
WHERE:    

To obtain a full copy of the report go to www.asnchicago.org.

WHY:         

While the economy appears to be growing at a stronger rate, youth employment has seen little to no growth and has actually reversed the progress gained during the early decades of the War on Poverty.  Youth employment is not only a vital and effective violence prevention vehicle, but also a means for encouraging youth to stay in school, providing much-needed financial support to youth and their families, and a critical stepping-stone to future employment.  Continued low projections for teen summer employment make it imperative that effective program responses to youth employment be developed in time to impact summer employment needs for 2014.