Jobless Rate for Youths Is Increasing

Eddie Macias, 19, of Chicago has been job-hunting on and off for four years. He is among the youths who must now compete with older, laid-off workers and even college graduates who are unable to find work in their fields. (By Kari Lydersen -- The Washington Post)
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That is because teenagers are now competing with older adults going back to work, adults working second jobs to make ends meet, illegal immigrants and young adults who cannot find work in line with their college degrees and are taking entry-level retail or manual-labor jobs instead, Sum said.

"The economy has shifted from high-wage manufacturing to low-wage service jobs, so now the kids are competing for those service jobs with adults," said Jack Wuest, executive director of Chicago's Alternative Schools Network, which commissioned Sum's study. "In middle-class communities, kids still may be finding jobs through friends and relatives. But in low-income neighborhoods, there are so few jobs and the ones that do exist are snapped up by adults."

In addition, the Clinton administration cut the Summer Youth Employment Program in 2000, shifting resources to year-round employment for young workers. As a result, an analysis by the Northeastern researchers found that the government provided money for about 100,000 youths year-round in 2005, as opposed to 600,000 to 800,000 summer jobs that it had been funding every year.

Wuest said the loss of that federal program was particularly bitter for low-income minority youths, because 48 percent of the participants were African American and it was the first job for many of them.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) this spring calls for $1 billion in economic stimulus funding for summer jobs for youths. Clyburn and other lawmakers would also like to see a youth summer jobs component included in a second economic stimulus package, said Kristie Greco, his spokeswoman.

The city of Chicago began a summer jobs program in 2000 to compensate for the loss of federal funding. This year, it acted as middleman to connect 18,000 youth with summer jobs at city agencies and through private employers.

"This is a big help for us getting jobs in the future, because we learn skills like work ethics and teamwork," said Eric Zhao, 19, who works painting murals through the Chicago program.