somewhat smaller for female teens. Hardest hit, however, are youth of both genders who are most likely to be disadvantaged economically and otherwise û youth from minority racial and ethnic groups, especially African-American and Hispanic teens.
Northwestern University researchers also commented in their report that:
ôWhile in-school youth have faced sharp drops in the demand for their labor in recent years, some would suggest that employment opportunities are most important for those youth who have already left school.
Unfortunately, the new Northeastern study makes clear that out-of-school youth--including high school dropouts as well as high school graduates without postsecondary education--confront their own challenges in today's job market. Their employment rates have fallen by 5-6 percentage points since 2000, leaving only 50 percent of dropouts and 70 percent of high school graduates employed in 2003 (ôNationÆs Teens, Your Adults, Suffer Extraordinary Job Lossesö 5).
Causing the changes taking place in U.S. youth employment are a number of factors, among which the domestic economic recession and somewhat sluggish recovery are naturally paramount (ôTrends in Youth Employment Ratesö 41). Other causes were identified by the Congressional Budget Office in a November, 2004, report covering the period from 1979 to 2003 described by Monthly Labor Review (ôTrends in Youth Employment Ratesö 41):
ôOver this period, trends in young people's employment rates varied depending on their age and sex. For example, for youths ages 20 to 24, the employment rate dropped for males while it rose slightly for females. For youths ages 16 to 19, employment rates trended down for males and females, and were always below the rates for their older counterparts.
What caused these changes in youth employment rates? One factor was increasing school enrollment. Young people who were in school were much less likely to have j...