Putting Young Adults to Work – A Challenge for Now!

by | December 3, 2012

Home 9 Family Economic Security 9 Putting Young Adults to Work – A Challenge for Now! ( Page 2 )
Did you know that in Wisconsin there are an estimated 55,000 young adults, age 20-24, who are neither employed nor enrolled in school?  These “disconnected youth” are part of 6.5 million US teens and young adults who are not finding their way into the workforce in ways that we once took for granted.  Today, the Annie C. Casey Foundation released a report, “Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity.” The report highlights the increasing challenges young adults face finding employment in an economy where some of the pathways we took for granted in the past (manufacturing, housing construction, small businesses) are less likely to lead to success.
The good news is that Wisconsin is doing better than most states, with the fifth lowest percentage of disconnected youth; but the bad news is that like other states, that percentage has increased from a decade ago.  
And, while not covered extensively in this report, the statistics for youth of color are much worse.  Young adults who get started on a path of steady employment are more likely to be able to support a family in later years, are less likely to engage in a range of risky behaviors, and ultimately contribute more to our overall economic stability.

What does this mean we need to do?  It always sounds easier than it is, but we should:
·         Align and support both public and private resources in our communities to build initiatives and community collaboratives that engage young adults in meaningful work that contributes to our community.
·         Invest more (government, foundations, and businesses) to promote effective and accountable education and employment strategies, including reaching out to youth who have dropped out of school.
·         Utilize proven program strategies, such as mentoring, internships and apprenticeships, and community service projects to strengthen youth connections to work and earn a modest income.
“Youth and Work” includes the latest youth employment data for every state, the District of Columbia, and the nation. Additional information on disconnected youth and young adults is available in the KIDSCOUNT Data Center, which also contains the most recent national, state, and local data on hundreds of indicators of child well-being. The Data Center allows users to create rankings, maps and graphs for use in publications and on websites, and to view real-time information on mobile devices.                         by Jim Moeser
Kids Forward
Kids Forward

Join us to build a Wisconsin where every child and family thrives.

Recent

Wisconsin Health Insurance Eligibility

Wisconsin Health Insurance Eligibility

Below are infographics detailing how different groups are affected by the health insurance landscape in Wisconsin, and which programs each group is eligible for by income. They have been updated with the new 2024 Federal Poverty Levels (FPL). ACA Eligibility and FPL...

Immigrant Taxpayers Deserve Dignity and Justice

Immigrant Taxpayers Deserve Dignity and Justice

Undocumented Immigrants Pay $198.9 Million in Taxes in Wisconsin By Liliana Barrera & William Parke-Sutherland Immigrants have been and continue to be vital to our communities. Nearly 300,000 immigrants in Wisconsin—about 76,000 of whom are undocumented—have put...

Sign up for Emails

Your address helps us identify your legislators and the most relevant messages to send you.