IS THERE ENOUGH SUMMER WORK FOR YOUTH?
BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX
The unemployment rate, at 4.4 percent, is half a point higher than
it was
at its trough eight months ago. It’s been cause for alarm, mostly because it
suggests softness in our economy. Still, the labor market seems relatively
strong – those who are laid off are taking less time to find new jobs, and
there has been little clamoring by states or unemployed individuals that more
unemployment insurance relief is needed.
But with much of the focus on the adult labor market, will the young people
who customarily spend summers working find those opportunities this year?
Last year 2.2 million youngsters worked, and the number of jobs held by youth
jumped 20 percent from the year before. We won’t know exactly how many young
people will find work this summer, but I’m predicting something less than 2.2
million. Indeed, if the market stays as soft as it has been, and layoffs
continue, fewer than 2 million young people will find summer jobs.
For some, that’s not a tragedy. The college bound, from upper-middle income
households, will fill their summer with relaxation and volunteer work. The
entrepreneurial among them will hit the web and create businesses or
opportunities for themselves. But the youngsters who are not college bound,
who are permanently both out of school and out of work, are of concern.
That’s why last week’s Labor Summit, convened by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao,
was of interest. It attracted labor leaders but also speakers like Federal
Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. And it announced the creation of a
Job Corps academy, so that Job Corps enrollees can get regular high school
degrees, not just GEDs, through a curriculum that will include both distance
learning and Internet courses. Greenspan explicitly addressed this
population, both in noting that education is a lifelong activity, and in
speaking of “technological trickle-down” that enhances the skills of workers
who are often viewed as “low-skilled”. Greenspan also spoke of our
educational quality, relative to that of our trading partners, noting that
much needs to be done in the area of education.
It’s about time this population got some attention. A decade ago, as summer
approached, mayors and governors were besieged by community organizations to
create jobs for out-of-work youth, especially those from poor families. The
federal government, too, got involved, with announcements that thousands of
opportunities would be made available through community use of federal funds.
Now, if these efforts are taking place, they are taking place quietly.
Instead of pushing employment opportunities for your youth, some adults are
trying to generate employment opportunities for themselves!
Yet youth employment remains a problem, especially for inner-city young
people. While the total African American population had an unemployment rate
of 8 percent, African American youth experienced an unemployment rate of 20.2
percent. Our 4.4 percent unemployment rate is higher than it was six months
ago, and it is likely to rise. How high will youth unemployment go? Will
concern for youth be crowded out by concern about our sluggish economy?
Already it seems that some of our youth have been written off. They are out
of school, out of work, and out of our consciousness. Sometimes, we walk by
them on the main streets of some inner city communities, and wonder to
ourselves why they aren’t doing something productive. The answer is simple –
no one hired them, or offered them a chance, fewer government programs focus
on their needs, and businesses that are feeling the pinch of a sluggish
economy aren’t taking many chances on young people.
But in some ways we must take a chance now or pay the price later. Young
people who are at the periphery of our natin’s economy have scant incentives
to save, to invest, to participate fully in other aspects of our society. A
job, for many, represents opportunity, while joblessness is manifestation of
their alienation. A youngster who is working is a youngster contributing;
one who is not is at loose ends with life, easily diverted to illegal or
unacceptable activity.
Just a decade ago, few questioned the many reasons why federal, state, and
local governments generated hundreds of thousands of subsidized jobs for
young people and encouraged businesses to do the same thing. Now, there is
much less focus on the needs of young people, especially inner-city
youngsters. Instead, many nonprofit organizations offer unpaid internship
opportunities a chance, they say, to expose young people to the world of
work. Youngsters also need to be exposed to the world of pay, especially in
summers when good opportunities may enhance their commitment to education.
In the long run, we are all losers when the 16-19 year old population goes
jobless.