Disconnected youth is a label in United States public policy debate for NEETs, young people "Not in Education, Employment, or Training". Measure of America's July 2021 report says disconnected youth (defined as aged 16 to 24) number 4.1 million in the United States, about one in nine of the age cohort.[1] Disconnected youth are sometimes referred to as Opportunity Youth.[2]

Emphasis is placed upon this group because the years between the late teens and the mid-twenties are believed to be a critical period during which young people form adult identities and move toward independence. The effects of youth disconnection—limited education, social exclusion, lack of work experience, and fewer opportunities to develop mentors and valuable work connections—can have long-term consequences that snowball across the life course, eventually influencing everything from earnings and self-sufficiency to physical and mental health and marital prospects. Much discussion has been focused on how to reach these young people and connect them with broader social institutions in order to prevent these negative consequences.

Analysis has also examined the economic impact of youth disconnection. According to the Measure of America report, the average disconnected youth costs $37,450 a year in government services with varying levels of successful impact.[3]

Definition

The term has gained increased usage in recent years among policy advocates and social science researchers, particularly after the Great Recession. After a decade of relatively stable rates, the rolls of the disconnected surged by over 800,000 young people between 2007 and 2010.[4] The latest data indicates that the rate of youth disconnection has fallen to 10.7 percent, a significant drop from the 2010 post-recession high of 14.7 percent, or 5.8 million young people.[1] However, data on disconnected youth during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has not yet been reported. It is estimated that at the peak the number was at 9 million.[1]

A 2012 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that "the data show that the populations struggling the most to enter the workforce and stay in school today are youth who are less educated, come from low-income families and belong to a racial or ethnic minority."[5]

The United States Department of Education defines disconnected youth as those aged 14 to 24 years old, but relies on calculations done for the 16-24 group by Measure of America.[6] Some researchers have narrowed the definition of youth disconnection to exclude those above an income and education threshold,[7] and those parenting with a connected spouse.[8][9]

The two surveys commonly used to calculate youth disconnection are the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS). Each survey has its advantages; the ACS surveys people in "group quarters" and has a larger sample size, which allows demographic and geographic disaggregation of data, while the CPS is an older survey, including data from 1940 on.[9]

Youth disconnection in 25 largest US metro areas

Below is a list of United States metropolitan areas sorted by their rates of disconnected youth, as well as youth disconnection rates by race and ethnicity in metro areas where the population of that racial or ethnic group is sufficiently large for robust estimates.[1]

Rank Metro Area All
(percent)		 African American
(percent)		 Latino
(percent)		 White
(percent)
United States 10.7 16.7 12.1 8.8
1 Boston 6.0 - 10.9 5.2
2 San Francisco 6.4 14.1 6.4 5.0
3 Minneapolis 7.3 - - 5.3
4 San Diego 7.6 - 7.8 8.5
5 Seattle 8.1 - - 8.1
6 Philadelphia 8.7 17.7 8.0 5.6
7 Orlando 8.8 11.5 9.5 7.3
8 Washington 8.9 16.3 8.1 5.4
9 Los Angeles 9.2 16.3 10.3 7.2
10 Denver 9.2 - 13.2 6.9
11 Dallas–Fort Worth 9.9 12.7 11.4 7.8
12 Chicago 10.0 20.3 9.8 7.0
13 Portland 10.4 - 12.9 10.9
14 St. Louis 10.8 17.9 - 9.5
15 New York City 11.0 17.4 14.7 7.3
16 Charlotte 11.0 13.5 13.4 8.8
17 Detroit 11.0 20.0 - 7.4
18 Miami 11.2 14.3 10.8 9.7
19 Baltimore 11.3 16.4 - 8.7
20 Atlanta 11.6 15.2 10.7 9.2
21 Phoenix 11.6 - 13.8 9.0
22 Tampa-St. Petersburg 11.9 18.3 11.3 10.7
23 San Antonio 12.0 - 13.0 8.3
24 Houston 12.5 14.6 15.2 7.7
25 Riverside-San Bernardino 13.4 27.3 12.2 13.5

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lewis, Kristen (July 2021). "A Decade Undone: 2021 Update" (PDF). Measure of America, Social Science Research Council. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Opportunity Youth - The Corps Network". www.corpsnetwork.org. Archived from the original on 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  3. ^ Visser, M. Anne, James Mullooly and Polet Campos-Melchor (December 2020). Diversifying, transforming, and last resorts: The utilization of community based youth serving organizations in the construction of livelihood strategies by disconnected youth in rural America. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.10.005
  4. ^ Lewis and Burd-Sharps, Kristen and Sarah. "One in Seven: Ranking Youth Disconnection in the 25 Largest Metro Areas" (PDF). Measure of America, Social Science Research Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity" (PDF). The Annie E Casey Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Performance Partnership Pilots: An Opportunity to Improve Outcomes for Disconnected Youth | ED.gov Blog". Archived from the original on 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  7. ^ Ross, Martha; Svajlenka, Nicole Prchal (24 May 2016). "Employment and disconnection among teens and young adults: The role of place, race, and education". The Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  8. ^ Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L. (1 October 2015). "Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  9. ^ a b Powers, Alex; Recio, Marina (26 September 2016). "Young and Adrift: Measuring Youth Disconnection in America Today". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
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