A Sound Investment: Funding Teen Summer Employment
Forsome teens, a summer job might be a way to pad the resume, or to keep busy whennot in school. Yet in my years of working with low-income youth, it۪s becomeclear that a summer job can be critical for preventing some of the worst turnsin life. I۪ve also seen how few resources it takes to employ a teen for thesummerresources that are now disappearing.
Mostteens who participate in summer jobs programs are good kids from strugglingfamilies. To give them a shot at opportunity, they need real employment and thefulfillment and hope that come from a good job. Unfortunately, a crisis in teensummer jobs will make this much rarer. Unless we act, the benefits of teenemployment may soon evaporate.
Theeroding teen job market is well-chronicled. The unemployment rate for teenagersin America last year was the highest recorded since the end of World War II. Projectionsindicate a bleak national teen employment rate of 25 percent for the summer of2011.
Youthfrom poor homes and black males face a far tougher scenario than the averageteenager. Statistics show that teens from families with incomes of $20,000 ayear or less have only a 20 percent chance of finding employment compared with38 percent for teens from families in the $75,000 – $100,000 income range. InJune 2010, only 15 percent of black teens were employed compared to 32 percentof white teens.
Whatdoes this mean for our youth, our families, and our nation?
Researchindicates that a first job is critically important to success in life. Teenswith summer jobs are less likely to get involved with crime or become pregnant,and those who participate in work-based learning programs have a better chance ofseeing the connection between school, work, and their career goals.
Thelack of summer jobs for low-income teens affects both the lives of vulnerablechildren and the well-being of the entire nation. Crime rates, welfaredependency, and long-term un-employability climb as summer job opportunitiesfall.
Yeta relatively small investment in summer jobs spurs immediate economic activityin poor neighborhoods and has a huge payback in the future productivity of ouryouth and enhanced quality of life for them and their families.
I۪veseen this dramatic national trend in my own work. This year, ABCD has receivedmore than 6,000 applications for summer jobs but we have funding for only 900in our SummerWorks program.
OurSummerWorks teens earn paychecks and gain experience among caring adults innon-profit organizations such as hospitals, libraries, government offices,”green” urban farms and parks, child care centers, day camps, health clinics,and more. Each year, these worksites look forward to their teen staffers andcount on them to help keep needed community programs running in a time of tightbudgets. It۪s a win-win for the kids, the community, and the economy.
Withadult unemployment in Boston۪s inner-city neighborhoods above 20 percent, manyof the youngsters in our summer jobs program give their parents part or all oftheir paychecks. Their summer job dollars help pay the rent, keep families intheir homes, and thus prevent homelessness. The money also goes towards othernecessities, like food, school clothes, and saving for college.
Ina June interview in the Boston Herald,Kelvin Diggs, a 15-year-old from Boston۪s Roxbury neighborhood, said: “I want ajob to keep me out of trouble. If kids work, they can۪t get into trouble.” Healso said he would give half his earnings to his mother and grandfather because”for everything they۪ve done for me, it۪s only right to pay them back.”Kelvin۪s mom was laid off from her job last December.
Whatwe and the nation need is real federal investment to put millions of teensacross America to work this summer and every summer. For example, it costs just$1,500 for a teenager to participate in our SummerWorks program. We and otherteen job providers engage in extensive fundraising. Yet we must also askstates, cities, private funders, and anyone else with a dollar to spare forsupport.
Lastyear, Congress came close to passing legislation co-sponsored by Senators PattyMurray (D-WA) and John Kerry (D-MA) for $1.3 billion dedicated for summer jobs,but the bill failed in a close vote.
Wecan۪t let the federal government walk away from our most vulnerable, at-riskyouth in a time of economic crisis and soaring unemployment in inner-cityneighborhoods and rural communities Once, decades ago, there was a federalcommitment to summer jobs for low-income youth. We need this commitment nowmore than ever.