OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A new study shows young people are more likely to be unemployed than any other age group. At Workforce Partnership, increasing numbers of young adults are missing out on building important work experiences.
Nearly 6 million young people nationwide are out of school and not working, according to the study, released today by the Opportunity Nation Coalition.
When young people finish school, it’s important for them to start using the knowledge they acquired in college and build work histories that will serve them later in life. Nearly 15 percent of those between the ages of 16 and 24 don’t have a job and are no longer in school, according to the coalition report.
Without work experience, young people face challenges achieving higher salaries and are more likely to become an economic drain on the community.
Scott Anglemyer, director of the Kansas Workforce Partnership, said oftentimes, young adults face repayment of student loans and as a result they don’t take less than ideal jobs that don’t pay enough to meet their obligations.
“Some of these young people who have relied on student loans have to have a certain job,” Anglemyer told FOX 4 News. “Rather than taking that less than perfect job right out the door, they can’t afford to do that. Therefore find themselves in this predicament. They have to pay on student loans but they don’t have the kind of job that they need.”
Anglemyer said a whole generation of kids is growing up without any part-time work experience that we used to take for granted among teens and college students. He said employers are leery of taking a chance on a student, if they graduate without any work history at all.
The report says the community you grow up in often has a lot to do with a young person’s success. Things like internet access, income inequality and public safety can influence how many young adults immediately become part of the workforce.