The recession may have a lasting effect on young people
AMERICA’S capital enrolled some 20,000 youth in a jobs programme this summer, part of a national effort to get young people to work. Some spent the summer in the offices of Adrian Fenty, Washington’s mayor. Others joined a “conservation corps”. Delonte Brown, 16 years old, spent nine weeks at Powell House, a non-profit organisation, learning about the arts industry and acquiring various job skills while earning an hourly wage. Now the summer is ending. Mr Brown is one of the lucky few in a jobs programme during the school year too. For most, work will vanish with the summer. In July the national employment-population (E/P) ratio was 59.4%. For teenagers it was 28.9%, the lowest on record.
Young people always have lower levels of employment. They may forsake work to focus on their studies, hardly a bad thing, or be willing to wait for the right job. But they are also less experienced job hunters, less mobile, less skilled and often the first to be fired. Since 2000 they have had an especially hard time, explains Andrew Sum of Northeastern University’s Centre for Labour Market Studies (CLMS). One possible reason is that the old are elbowing out the young. The teenage E/P ratio dropped by 34% between 2000 and 2008. It rose by 7% for those aged 55-64 and by 29% for those aged 65 and older.
All types of young people have suffered. In the first quarter of 2009 only half of young college graduates had jobs that matched their education, according to CLMS. Figures are worse, however, for those who are teenagers, male, poor or black. Those with a combination of these traits have particularly glum statistics. The E/P ratio for poor black teenagers was only 12% in the first quarter of the year. Middle- and upper-class whites and Hispanics were three times as likely to be working.
The stimulus bill, passed in February, included $1.2 billion to help find jobs for those aged 14-24. The White House encouraged much of the money to be spent this summer, through programmes that subsidise jobs in the public and private sector. Hilda Solis, the labour secretary, is a firm believer in summer jobs programmes—not least because she took part in one as a teenager. The administration estimates that the stimulus will put 200,000 young people to work this summer. The push helps, but not enough.
The main federal effort to help the young, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), has historically failed to reach many of the 3.5m-5m young people who are neither in school nor working. Washington, DC, offers an example of a local programme with good intentions, high costs and limited efficacy. This summer’s $23m budget had to be almost doubled. Despite some heartening evidence, it is unclear that the programme reaches those most in need of help or provides the skills needed to get a job in future. But since the city has yet to spend its stimulus allocation, it could opt for a year-round effort to target the most isolated teenagers. Linda Harris of the Centre for Law and Social Policy, which lobbies for the poor, wants a broad overhaul of WIA—the law has been due for reauthorisation for years.
Meanwhile, the labour market remains dismal. Complicating the matter, the federal minimum wage rose last month, which may further depress the employment prospects of young, unskilled workers. And as the recession drags on, ever more youngsters are likely to find themselves left in economic limbo. Young people with jobs are more likely to graduate from high school and earn higher wages as adults. So lack of employment now may portend an even bleaker future.
译文:
经济衰退可能将持久影响年轻人
经济衰退可能将持久影响年轻人
得益于国家对年轻人的就业扶持，华盛顿在今年推行的暑期就业方案中向社会录用了近两万名青年。其中一些人被安排在市长亚德里恩·芬提的办公大楼里工作，另外一些人则被编入"资源保护队"。16岁的德隆特·布朗在做一份按时计费工作的同时也在一家非盈利性机构Powell House度过了9周时间以学习艺术与各种工作技能。布朗能在读书期间加入暑期就业计划实为万幸。现在，暑期已接近尾声，但对很多人来说，夏天一结束，他们的工作也将会随之终结。七月份，全国就业人数比率为59.4%，而青少年的就业率仅为28.9%，创有史以来新低。
年轻人的就业率向来是比较低的。为专心学业他们可能会选择放弃工作机会。这还可以理解，或者他们是想等找到合适的就业岗位再说吧。然另一方面他们在工作经验、社会活动，技术技能等方面存在着不足，公司裁员时，他们也是首当其冲。自2000年开始，年轻人找工作就更加不容易了。可能的原因是老年人在逐步挤压年轻人的就业空间。东北大学劳动力市场研究中心的安德鲁·萨姆如是解释道。2000至2008年间，青少年的就业率下降了34%，而年龄在55-64岁的群体就业率上升了7%，65岁以上的老人就业率则上升了29%。
各行各业的年轻人都受到了经济衰退带来的不利影响。据劳动力市场研究中心统计，2009年第一季度，仅有一半的年轻大学毕业生找到了与其专业对口的工作。然而，统计数据显示青少年群体、男性、穷人与黑人的就业状况更加糟糕。而对那些集上述描绘情况于一身的人群来说，统计结果尤为不妙。今年第一季度，穷困的黑人青少年就业率仅为12%，而中上阶层的白人与西班牙裔人的就业率则是他们的三倍。
二月份通过的经济刺激方案计划总投资12亿美元以协助年龄在14-24岁之间的年轻人就业。白宫意欲通过在公立与私营部门中推行岗位津贴的做法鼓励将大部分资金用在今年的夏季工作上。劳工部长希尔达·索丽斯对这项暑期就业方案非常赞同，这主要还应归咎于她年轻时曾参加过这种计划。行政部门估计，经济刺激方案可以解决今年夏季20万年轻人的就业问题。虽然如此，但还远远不够。
促进年轻人就业问题上， 联邦政府作出了很大的努力，出台了劳动力投资法案（WIA），但这部法案在过去一直都未能成功的为那些已离开学校和待业的300-500万人带来福音。华盛顿哥伦比亚特区开地方之先河推出了一项本地规划，用意是好，然而所付成本是过高，而收效却甚微。今年夏天原计划2300万美元的预算总投资恐怕得翻番。尽管也取得了些振奋人心的业绩，但目前尚不清楚该规划能否照顾到那些最需要帮助的人以及它能否提供在未来工作中所需的各项技能。不过，既然该市在经济刺激上还继续拨款，它可以选择花一年的时间努力去帮助那些处在边缘状态的青少年群体。法律与社会政策中心的琳达·哈里斯，她专为穷人打抱不平，希望劳动力投资法案能进行些大范围的改革——因为此法案早在多年前就该重新授权修订了。
与此同时，劳动力市场的情况也不容乐观。更为糟糕的是，上个月联邦政府提高了最低工资标准，而这一举措的实施则可能会导致年轻人与非技术工人的就业状况进一步恶化。随着经济衰退的持续蔓延，越来越多的年轻人会发现自己陷入了经济上的困境。而那些拥有高学历的年轻人则更易找到工作并能像成年人一样获得较高的薪水。因此，就业率低迷的现状可能预示前景将更加黯淡。