Dire Straits in the Nation’s Teen Labor Market: The Outlook for the Summer 2010 Teen Job Market...

This research paper is focused on the deteriorating labor market plight of the nation’s teens over the past decade in the U.S., especially since the inception of the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Labor markets are only now (March 2010) beginning to emerge from the recession. Our paper will begin by reviewing trends in the employment rates of the nation’s teens (16-19) from 2000 through the first quarter of 2010 when their employment rate hit a new post-World War II low. The changes in the employment rates of teens from the end of 2007 through the February-March period of 2010 will be compared to those of adults in other age groups to illustrate the impacts of the Great Recession on the labor market situation of teens and young adults (20-24). The declines in the employment rates of teens in key gender, race-ethnic, and family income groups will be described and analyzed. The extremely depressed state of the labor market for black male teens and those from low income families will be identified.

The labor market problems of the nation’s teens at the end of calendar year 2009 will then be examined, including open unemployment, hidden unemployment, and underemployment; i.e., working part-time but desiring full-time work. The pool of underutilized labor and the underutilization rate will be estimated and its consequences assessed.

The final section of the paper will provide an overview of the summer job market for teens over the 2000-2009 period, a projection of the summer 2010 employment rate for teens in the absence of any new job creation effort, and the magnitude of the additional number of jobs for teens that are needed to restore the summer teen employment rate to its value in 2000. The public policy implications of these findings will be reviewed. (p 1-2) (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Full Publication Title: Dire Straits in the Nation’s Teen Labor Market:  The Outlook for the Summer 2010 Teen Job Market and the Case for A Comprehensive Youth Jobs Creation Strategy

Several major findings about teen employment rates are noted: - Rates for teen employment reached 45.2% in 1999 and declined to 28.4% in 2009. (p. 2) - Employment rates for teenage girls were 2.3% higher than teenage boys in the first quarter of 2010.(p. 5) - Only 1 of every 7 black teens held any type of job in the January-March period of 2010. (p. 5) - The underutilization rate for teens was equal to 41.3% in the fouth quarter of 2009. (p. 11) - 9 states had estimated underutilization rates of 50% or higher (Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C. (p. 12) - Summer employment has also declined, with teens in Washington, D.C., Georgia, California, Nevada, and California haveing the lowest employment rates in 2009. (p. 15) (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2010
• Author(s): Sum, Andrew; Khatiwada, Ishwar; Palma, Sheila
• Organizational Author(s): Northeastern University
• Funding Source: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
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• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies