Report Shows Participation Better Prepares Poor Youth Graduates for Jobs and the Future

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tomorrow is International Youth Day. In a year when youth unemployment in the United States has hit a record high at 24%, and globally at 45%, poor youth graduating from Children International's Youth Program state they are more educated and possess job skills needed to get a job and have a better future.

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In a report released by the Kansas City-based humanitarian organization, the over 12,000 youth graduating from Children International's Youth Program also report participation in the organization's program is vital to their success in school, ability to remain healthy and motivation to reach their goals.

Children International has issued its annual Youth Report Card based on the latest graduate survey, and youth say involvement in the charity's education, health, job skills, leadership and financial savings programs -- even minimally -- improves their chances of obtaining a job and becoming self-sufficient.  

The report discovered other key findings:

• At the time of graduation, 86% of youth are still studying or have finished high school.
• 95% of graduated youth state they graduate from CI's youth programs with at least one job skill.
• Youth who actively participate in CI programs are one-and-a-half times more likely to attend a four-year university and two times more likely to attend a college or technical course as compared to those who never participate.

Many youth graduates involved in the report and their families live on less than $1.25 a day in impoverished communities in 11 countries around the world. The more education and job-skills training they receive, the better their chances of becoming self-reliant in an increasingly competitive global job market.

Children International   President and CEO Jim Cook said, "I admire our youth for their hard work and courage to overcome poverty. They face incredible hurdles every day and choose to take a path of positive change."

Children International's Youth Program provides its 130,000 members, ages 12 to 19, an opportunity to become more educated, better prepared for employment and more involved in civic affairs. The program is geared to preparing impoverished youth approaching adulthood to become healthy, self-reliant adults. Youth learn those skills through a variety of programs including leadership training, organized sports leagues, job-skills training and community and civic activities and responsibilities.

If you would like to see the results from the youth survey, please visit Youth Report Card 2011.

If you would like to learn more about our Youth Program, visit Children International Youth Program.

About Children International's Youth Program:

Children International has more than 130,000 youth in 11 countries around the world. The Youth Program provides teens from 12 to 19 years of age a positive environment in which to grow. The program also provides youth a safe place to gather with their friends, as well as constructive activities to empower them to become leaders in their communities. Members democratically elect a youth council with the intention of solving social, cultural and economic problems.  

About Children International:

Established in 1936, Children International is a humanitarian organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs help more than 340,000 children and their families in 11 countries around the world including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Honduras, India, the Philippines and the United States. For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dolores Quinn Kitchin
Public Relations
Children International
Direct:  (816) 943-3730
Cell:  (816) 718-0711
Email:  [email protected]
https://twitter.com/ci_doloresk

SOURCE Children International