Youth Unemployment in the United States: “Still Unemployed… Still Hopeful”

1. Youth Unemployment in the United States:“Still Unemployed… Still Hopeful” Natalie Branosky InclusionUS

2. Upcoming… • 29 Jan – 2 Feb 2012 (New York City) • UK-US Voluntary Sector Experts Series with • Inclusion and Seedco • 9-12 March (Washington, DC) • US National Assoc of Workforce Boards Annual Forum + International Day (9 March) • 12-13 April (Baltimore, MD) • US National Transitional Jobs Network + Inclusion

3. Voting behaviour 18-29 yr olds

5. US Youth Unemployment • Overall • 24.6% (compared to 9.1% overall) • Some differences: school leaving age in the US is 18! • Over-representation • young adults aged 16-24 represent • 13.5% of the workforce, but • 26.4% of all unemployed workers.

6. Characteristics • Mirrors national level characteristics: • recession has disproportionately affected men, minority groups • 1 in 4 young people in the US are unemployed • 50% of African American young people are jobless • 35% of Hispanic young people • ‘Transitioning youth’ • those with lower educational attainment, • young parents, • those with a criminal record, and • those living in institutional care or with a disability • Poverty • 15.1% of the national population (47 million people) • 22% of children now below the US poverty threshold.

7. City of Pittsburgh

8. Obama Administration Policy • Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs • Joins together federal government departments • Listening tours across the country • findyouthinfo.gov • “We need inclusion, equality, and empowerment” • “Our employment cannot be considered an isolated activity”

9. Obama Administration Policy • ARRA + Youth Summer Jobs Program • explicitly designed to create short-term public and private sector positions for young people, • exhausted just months after enactment due to high levels of demand for participation • Secretary of Labor: 100,000 please!

10. Obama Administration Policy • Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) for TANF • 250,000 jobs across 39 States (50%, either summer or year-round) • Nearly a mirror of the Future Jobs Fund • Applause from public + private employers, employment service, participants

11. American Jobs Act • focus on construction workers, teachers, first responders, returning veterans, and the long-term unemployed, • new tax credit for companies who hire new workers, with an emphasis on small business hires, • tax credit to companies who hire returning veterans, • tax credit for those who have spent more that 6 months looking for work and take up temporary employment, • expansion of UI for 1 yr for those experiencing prolonged hardship • modernisation of 30,000 public schools, roads, bridges, transportation systems (contracts will be designed to attract private investment according to how badly the project is needed, and what it will actually do for the economy)

12. The Empathy Deficit?

13. U.S. family income(Rose, Stephen. Social Stratification in the U.S. 2007)

14. InclusionUS • www.socialinclusionus.org @SocInclusionUS

15. InclusionUS recommends • The State of Young America.Demos & the Young Invincibles: a databook, a national poll of young people, and first-person stories on the experience of entering adulthood at a time of economic uncertainty • The National Youth Employment Coalition. Valuable US resource for service providers • The Philadelphia Youth Network. Funding, studies and LM information for young people • Workforce Investment Boards • Seattle (Information Technology) • Boston (Health Care) • Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (STEM Careers)

16. InclusionUS recommends • YouthBuild. Low-income, age 16 to 24 work full-time for 6-24 months toward high school diploma while building affordable housing in their communities. • 75% working, going to school or training for jobs. • 76% receiving no govt support • 80% not sold drugs, been convicted or spent time in prison • 85% involved in at least 1 community activity • Seedco’s Career Planning Guide for Young Adults • What Matters to Me • My Career • Preparing for Work • Success at Work and Beyond

17. UK-US Partnership for Young People • a shared Facebook page with contributions from students in both locations, • additional Skype calls with employers and Universities (the City of Bryan, Texas is home to Texas A&M University), • joint entrepreneurial projects focusing on global business, • in-person study exchanges in Liverpool or Texas (…someday!)

18. Delivering services in the U.S. • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) • Workforce Investment Act (WIA) • 50 countries on one land-mass! • Cities are the closest thing to a ‘market’ • Funding comes from contracts, employers, foundations + charitable orgs

19. Notable service trends • Young people are an entrepreneurial lot! • “Owner – entrepreneurship education” • Cities as contractors • The non-profit sector • Performance-based contracts • ‘green jobs’ • Transitional employment / ILMs

20. Choices… • The multi-service model is a response to the multi-dimensional needs of economic and socially excluded groups. Combines employment, housing, health, training, etc. • The single, specialised service model is built on an organisation’s unique selling point, and often makes them a desired partner of other service organisations who seek out their expertise.

21. Upcoming… • 29 Jan – 2 Feb 2012 (New York City) • UK-US Voluntary Sector Experts Series with • Inclusion and Seedco • 9-12 March (Washington, DC) • US National Assoc of Workforce Boards Annual Forum + International Day (9 March) • 12-13 April (Baltimore, MD) • US National Transitional Jobs Network + Inclusion

22. 2011 Paper Series • Youth Unemployment in the United States • (Nov 2011) #YEmployYouth • Using Philanthropy to Promote • Economic & Social Inclusion • (Nov 2011) • www.socialinclusionus.org • @SocInclusionUS