America’s youth are particularly affected by the economic downturn. Nearly 4 million people without jobs are aged 25 or under. Many of these young people aren’t teenagers and don’t need minimum-wage jobs to have enough money for weekends. These young adults are often young adults and need to have a job and the skills to do it.
Over 5 million young adults between 16 and 24 are not able to find work or education, and live in poverty communities. Some are fortunate. Some of them live in areas where there are jobs and education programs for youth that help them finish their education, acquire job skills, and find jobs that give them the opportunity to move up and earn a living wage.
The Campaign for Youth, a coalition of national organisations that support nearly 400 programs that have succeeded in helping disadvantaged or disconnected youth to find work, is the Campaign for Youth. The Campaign is currently lobbying Congress to increase federal funding for youth through year-round and summer jobs programs, and other initiatives that will aid young people and reverse the effects of the 60-year-old high youth unemployment rate.
The Campaign has created a national strategy to connect youth to work and school. It includes the creation of a White House Office of Youth Policy that coordinates federal efforts, provides grants to states and local youth development councils, and invests in promising programs that have already been successful serving youth.
“We appreciate President Obama’s efforts to provide jobs for Americans affected by the recession, but we want to ensure that America’s youth participate in the recovery,”Linda Harris, cochair and Youth Policy Director at CLASP, stated this. “Too often, young people, especially males of color, are left behind in economic recoveries. Putting young people to work now and investing in upgrading their skills and education credentials is the best way to prepare them to compete for good jobs with good wages that allow them to support their families when the economy rebounds. This pool of young talent will be needed to fuel our future economy, and we can’t afford to let them remain idle or slip through the cracks.”
The complete strategy for investment can be found online www.campaignforyouth.org.
