Global and Local Youth Unemployment: Dislocation and Pathways

“The impact of economic recessions is not felt uniformly across demographic groups, and the detrimental effects of the one-time dislocations can significantly shift the long-term prospects of human development for many years to come. The current recession has been hard on young people in the United States between the ages of 16 and 24, especially minorities (Latino or African American). Labor force participation rates have dropped dramatically, and unemployment has reached as high as 30 percent in some states. Long spells of unemployment and adverse conditions for labor market incorporation further increase the likelihood of other poor life outcomes, such as problems with the legal system, low-wage employment, and little socioeconomic mobility. Preventing such eroding effects requires legislative and programmatic interventions to help youths into positive labor market and education pathways, among them workforce development, enhanced vocational training, and reduction of education costs. The article outlined some of such interventions and programs in Massachusetts and in other countries” (p. 1).(Abstractor: Author)

• “In the first two years of the current recession (December 2007 to January 2010), youth unemployment increased 7.4%. This substantial increase in unemployment is worse than the increase in unemployment in any of the three recessions in the past thirty years (see Figure 1)…. Between December 2007 and January 2010, 1.5 million youths left the labor force. • Rising unemployment rates do not affect all youths equally. The recession has exacerbated racial disparities, putting minority youths out of work more often than their white peers” (p. 2). • “In 2009, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world. The growth in the prison population has been most significant among young men, especially young men of color, and incarceration rates are still on the rise for young African American men. • Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that unemployment damages self-esteem, increases the likelihood that a person will become depressed, and makes him or her more susceptible to negative health effects, such as malnutrition,… also reduce a person’s life expectancy…. [and] are more likely to commit suicide” (p. 4-5).(Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2013
• Author(s): Borges-Mendez, Ramon; Denhardt, Lillian; Collett, Michelle
• Organizational Author(s): ScholarWorks at UMass Boston
• Funding Source: Funding source not identified
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Melissa Mack
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies