National teen summer employment rate falls to historic low.

The 2007 summer employment rate for the nation's teenagers was the lowest in post-World War II history, according to a new report from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies

Despite increases in the number of jobs for adults over the past year, teenagers have fewer opportunities to gain initial work experience and develop their professional skills during the summer months.

Summer Employment Trends

During the peak of summer employment rates in 1978, the seasonally-adjusted employment rate among teens was 49.1 percent, meaning that nearly one out of every two U.S. teens was employed. This year, the summer employment rate for teens was only 34.5 percent, making it the worst year in recent history for teens looking for summer work.

The Center for Labor Market Studies' report findings show that the summer job market for teens in 2007 was worse than the previous historic low (36.1 percent), which was reached in the summer of 2004.

As recently as 2000, 45 percent of teens were employed during the summer. However, when the country began experiencing a mild recession in 2001, the market for teen summer employment collapsed. Teen summer employment rates fell every year from 2001 through 2004. Despite minor increases during the summers of 2005 and 2006, summer employment rates fell sharply again this year, a trend which experts find troubling.

"During a recession, you would expect employment rates to decline more steeply for teens than for adults, because of the cyclical nature of teen employment," says Joseph McLaughlin, research associate at the Center for Labor Market Studies. "What is puzzling in this case is the magnitude of the decline in teen employment rates and that even as the job market recovered and expanded over the past several years, teens have not benefited from this renewed job growth. Instead, they have experienced yet another downturn in employment for the current summer."

Fewer Jobs, Less Experience

Without a work history, teens who are not planning to go to college may have a more difficult time finding full-time employment and receiving competitive salaries after high school. College-bound teens will miss out on the opportunity to use summer employment as a way to gain career knowledge and insight into fields they might be interested in pursuing.

Fewer summer jobs also mean that many teens are less able to support themselves or to contribute to the overall income of their families. Finally, teens who are jobless throughout the year, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, are more likely to drop out of high school, become pregnant or become involved with the criminal justice system.

A previous Center for Labor Market Studies report in 2006 cited several factors influencing the decline in teen summer employment rates. Last year, teens faced increased competition from immigrants, workers ages 55 and older, older college students and young college graduates unable to obtain jobs in their fields. In addition, national, state and local governments have subsidized fewer jobs, despite evaluations of youth employment programs showing that low-income youth will enroll when jobs are available.

Sharp Declines by Race and Income

The labor market has worsened for teenagers across all demographic groups. However, male, minority and low-income teens experienced the sharpest declines in summer employment. Young females were slightly more likely to be working during the summer of 2007 than young males (36 percent versus 34 percent).

The discrepancy between employment rates for black and white teens was more dramatic, with only 21 percent of black teens employed this summer compared to 38 percent of white teens.

Teens from low-income families have also found it difficult to get jobs in recent summers, particularly if they are black or Hispanic. Only 17.4 percent of black teens from families with annual incomes below $20,000 were employed in an average month during the summer of 2006, compared to 55.6 percent of white teens from families with annual incomes greater than $75,000. Among families with incomes between $40,000 and $60,000, 34.2 percent of black teens and 35.6 percent of Hispanic teens were working, compared to 51.6 percent of white teens.

Federal Funding Sought

In response to these findings, the Northeastern University researchers urged the U.S. Congress to pass the Summer Jobs and Learning Opportunities Act of 2007, which would provide up to 1 million summer jobs for teens in the United States. The proposed legislation also includes several learning components designed to raise competency levels in reading, writing, math and science for youth who participate.

Details: To read the full report from the Center for Labor Market Studies, visit www.clms.neu.edu/publication. To learn more about NLC's Institute for Youth, Education, and Families' efforts to help cities reengage disconnected youth in employment and education, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Carlos Becerra at (202) 626-3160 or becerra@nlc.org.