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"ONE
OUT of FIVE"
A Report on Out-of-School & Out-of-Work Youth in Los Angeles and Long Beach
A
critical new study shows that Los Angeles teens, ages 16-19, lack
early work experience than their peers in the state and nation.
The study, "The Teen Disconnection in Los Angeles", paints
a dramatic picture of Los Angeles youth, particularly from South
and East Los Angeles, having less exposure to jobs and lack early
work experience. Early work experience is considered necessary to
gain early development of workplace "soft skills" needed to compete
and succeed in the workplace. This disconnection from work compounds
the problem of low high school completion rates documented recently
by this study and others on Los Angeles area youth and education.
According to the report, "Over 25,000 Los Angeles teens are not
enrolled in school programs and are not in the workforce."
Below
are links to download a full report version of "The Teen Disconnection
in Los Angeles," as well as full set of maps of this problem within
Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Education
and employment among young adults should be a vital part of workforce
development strategies. It is important to understand the extent
to which young adults participate in these activities and identify
subgroups of young adults who fail to acquire formal education or
to access employment. The Workforce Investment Boards of the cities
of Los Angeles and Long Beach commissioned this study in partnership
with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Paul Harrington, the Associate
Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University,
Boston, Massachusetts, is the principal researcher of this study.
In
this report, a thorough analysis is presented of the educational
and employment activities of young adult residents of Los Angeles
County including the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the
remainder of Los Angeles County which includes the suburban communities
surrounding these two cities. Also presented is a comparison of
the educational and employment behaviors of young adult residents
of these areas with that of their counterparts in the state and
the nation.
The
ages between 16 and 24-young adulthood-is typically the time to
accumulate human capital in the form of educational attainment or
work experience in the labor market. Individuals undertake these
activities during young adulthood since the opportunity cost, particularly
of seeking education, is lower during this period of their lives
when they have not yet started a family and are therefore free from
the responsibilities of supporting a family.
The
value of human capital has increased sharply as the job content
of the economy has changed in favor of jobs that require higher
levels of formal educational attainment and more sophisticated skills.
Education has become a prerequisite to success in today's labor
markets. The changes that have occurred in the labor markets make
it imperative that young adults engage in acquiring skills and human
capital through formal education and labor market work experience.
In today's labor markets, what workers "reap" over their working
lives is even more strongly determined by what they "sow" during
the young adult years of their lives. When young adults work
or go to school, the benefits extend beyond their personal lives
to the economy and the society at large.
Most
of the analysis in this report is based on data from the 2000 decennial
census, which provides information on the activities of individuals
at the time of the census enumeration in the spring of 2000. The
deterioration of the labor market after the 2001 recession and its
impacts on youth employment and youth labor market problems are
captured with data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) for
2000 and 2003.
Hard
copy documents are also available by calling 213-744-7130, or at:
CDD
6th Floor Reception Area
1200 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017
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