The number of young Americans aged 16 to 24 — without a job has exploded to 53.4 percent — the highest ratio of unemployed young people since WWII. That means millions of our children are staring down the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be less than we all expected.
Without a clear economic recovery plan aimed at creating entry-level jobs, many of our children face long odds being able to getting a decent start in life.
Experts predict that this generation will fare far worse off than their parents did unless the jobs situation changes. Yet, as hopeless as their future prospects may seem to young people in general, for Black, Brown, and other marginalized youth, it is indeed an extremely dire situation.
What is our youth’s lived experience of society’s failure to anticipate their needs and strengths, protect them from harm, support their healthy development, or otherwise help to organize their world to permit a transition to employment, partnership and citizenship?
- Is my Brooklyn, the same as yours? Do we even live in the same borough?