'Disconnected' Youth Costing Taxpayers Billions

16-24-year-olds lack 'soft skills' gained through school and work

The kids of America are in a bad way. Even compared to just a decade ago.

In 2000, Rosa Ramirez at National Journal reports, 43% of youth were employed, compared to only a quarter today. A new study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation called "Kids Count" looks at so-called "disconnected" youth, meaning folks between the ages of 16 and 24 neither employed nor in school. In addition to the dwindling employment prospects of many in this age group, millions have dropped out of high school or have avoided entering college. The study shows that taken together, these disconnected youth have cost taxpayers $1.56 trillion in recent years through their greater than average use of housing subsidies, food stamps, and in some cases jail space.

The crux of the problem, writes Ramirez, is that "without a full education or job experience, disconnected youths are growing up without the cluster of personal qualities, work habits, and attitudes needed to obtain and retain employment." Such a cluster has been dubbed "soft skills" by social scientists, as opposed to the "hard skills" of specific, often highly technical job training.

"Ensuring youth are prepared for the high-skilled jobs available in today's economy must be a national priority," said Annie E. Casey Foundation CEO Patrick McCarthy, "for the future of our workforce and the strength of our nation as a whole."

Via National Journal.

What would help America's "disconnected" youth?

[stepped_in_it]

HMMM, parental control? Living at home with Mommy and Daddy does not help to connect the disconnected!

[bsking]

...and throw in some decriminalized gonja mahnn....and wonder..."why is junior such a loser?"...;)

[MRMacrum]

What would help America's "disconnected" Youth?.....

Maybe bringing back our manufacturing base and while we are at it, placing as much emphasis on graduating seniors into the trades as we do into college.

[RobertJHarsh]

That would be a great start. A better idea is to basically make university access free, abolish this whole student loan system and make college just the next step after high school. Or kids who are not the college type are sent to vocational schools to learn a trade. That would be a idea of GOOD spending. I'd have no problem paying higher taxes to make that system happen. Kids today are non-producing gimmedat wanting losers. Look at that tool playing pool with iPod earbuds? I see that constantly! Is music that important to your life? I see people constantly with earbuds!

[bsking]

bs..manufacturing work.

these kids have been ruined by the "everbody gets a trophy" philosophy of the left and the radical education department. they come out of high school thinking they are all special and gifted and they will not "settle" for entry level anything especially something as demeaning as assembly line work. they all think they should walk in tell the boss how they have computer skills and they should start somewhere near the penthouse

[Tralee]

@RobertJHarsh Everyone does not have to go to college and making it free would only encourage more children, totally unsuited for college, to go, it puts off making a decision for 4 years and leads to too many taking the easy road with easy courses and bogus majors so that 4 years and tons of money later, they STILL have no marketable skill. I do agree with most of the rest of your post. I also like abolishing the student loan system, not for your reason but because the guaranteed student loan system gives colleges the free rein to NOT keep costs down. I don't know if public schools have guidance counselors or not, but they would be a good addition to public education. Each child would be evaluated and pointed toward a doable career not some pie in the sky college degree promise to someone with excellent mechanical skills etc.

[MRMacrum]

@RobertJHarsh - Okay. Let's forget the earbuds. I hear ya and agree. I find it interesting that you are advocating a more Euro approach to education. I definitely agree with you. The one thing though would be to test the students out their senior year along with trying to find a career road they are interested in. Not every kid should go to college. But every kid should have an avenue open for them to pursue a meaningful and productive career. One thing we could do right away is to stop considering white collar work as more important to our society than blue collar. All labor is honorable. My father taught me that and he had a masters from Harvard.

[RobertJHarsh]

@MRMacrum I agree with you and @Tralee. Students should be tested in the junior and senior years of high school to determine college, vocational school, or other options. However, there are two very bad trends in America right now. One is the usual "if you don't go to college your worthless" propaganda. I make well into the six figures and I do not have a college degree. So I am not worthless and in fact, a producer that supports the deadbeats in America. Second, there is new trend flying under the radar about kids in middle school being assigned "career tracks" in 8th grade. What 8th grader knows what they want to be when they become an adult? ZERO. Something else that should be done is make high school like college. Instead of this rigid day students have to follow for four years how about letting student schedule classes and break up the year into quarters like the colleges do. Why should a kid sit through a class for 22 weeks when they can do it 10 to 11 and move on to the next set of classes? Maybe more kids can graduate early and get into college, or the work force. Schooling in the US needs to be modernized.

[PoliticalSpice]

How about jobs at jobs training programs...

[Nemesis3X]

Don't worry, soon as we can tax the "rich" more, we will live happily ever after.

[CanisCanemEdit]

IMO much of the problem is kids having kids.

No "adult" in the picture. No male role mode in the picture.

The kids get so involved in survival that they never really learn how to be proactive parents.

[woodtick57]

ccc camps?

[Republican5001]

Nothing. They have the safety nets from the government in place if they choose to not follow the wisdom of their parents. And when they turn 18 they are no longer kids they are adults responsible for themselves.

[Capt_Morgan02]

First and foremost we have to stomp out the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality. That's the root of the problem. Then parents need to spend time teaching their kids decent values and work ethic.

[Tralee]

Yes, yes and yes!!! If I could vote you up more I would.

[Capt_Morgan02]

@Tralee thanks dude. Common sense really, isn't it?:)

[DerivePI]

jobs

[Speedieg]

Parents are doing a lousy job raising children. Children have no responsibility, no worries, no competition. They sit at home and play video games, or flit around to all kinds of fun activities. They have no concept of the real world and are ill prepared to deal with it when it confronts them.

[PayThatCEO]

America desperately needs to expand technical schools. We need affordable schools that teach mechanics, electrical, plumbing, repair... and and every job that isn't shuffling papers behind a desk. We are saturated with paper shuffling jobs and far too few hands-on jobs.

High schools used to offer more technical training. And yes, it's more expensive than classroom book learning. You have to have equipment and materials, but high schools should be training people for not just college, but also for jobs.

Many one-time technical colleges turned into "community" colleges years ago to accommodate the glut of people trying to get into universities. It's time to bring the tech college back to life. People who work with their hands and build or repair things are going to have jobs, whereas those who have the same college degree as millions of others are going to be a dime a dozen and hard-pressed to find a job to pay off the education loans.

[bsking]

they need "hard skills " applied directly to the seat of their pants by a boot, the size of a caring parent.

[NormalFlora]

Return auto shop, welding, drafting, woodworking, cosmetology, baking, food service and electric shop to certain high schools

[tomincali]

the deck is stacked against our youth for starter jobs. funny how els classes are free yet if you are an english speaker wanting to learn a new language you have to pay for it.

[mynameisaric]

I agree! The change needs to start in high school with the realization that not every kid is going to college. With that in mind, we can proceed to find practical avenues to lead these young adults into successful careers outside of a college degree. Credit for work programs with local businesses and classes geared more for adult responsibilities. Teaching them simple accounting, managing bills, planning for child expenses, etc. Skills they probably won't learn on they're own andskills their parents probably won't teach them.

[ctc]

Some might argue that their ability to efficiently subsist and their manipulative qualities are indeed 'soft skills'.

[Buzzfriendly]

This seems more of a personal mindset that has developed with their home life. Student loans ensure that almost everyone could go to collage. So I am not sure why they don't take advantage of that. Perhaps they don't want to go to collage and I can understand that as well. But they should also know that forgoing collage either leaves you with lower income jobs and entry level jobs that don't pay much (educated or not). It just seems as though these folks simply are failing at picking a path and pursuing it. While you can certainly change your path and many of us do the first step however is to get started. I am not sure how this mindset is changed if it doesn't begin at home.

[Jackie312gm]

Our military is in dire need of new recruits. Those with the qualifications should consider the military. Get training become a better person; a better AMERICAN with a better futuristic outlook. The military is not for everybody. Those that qualify should at least explore their options.

[Yank]

Any guess if these 'disconnected' youth voted Democrat or Republican?

[Tralee]

I'm pretty sure they fall into the "low information" category and voted for the "Cool" Guy they saw on late night TV, being really cool man.

[seedtick]

The word "disconnected" really does not fit here. The Generation Y kids are, in fact, very connected...just not connected in a "traditional" way. When I retired these kids were just coming into the work force. It is coincidental that my son and I recently had a conversation about this. He is a VP of global operations and is dealing with the college grads of this generation at the professional level. He says they are talented, but have a problem with traditional schedules...can't seem to make early morning meetings. But, when you make allowances for that they can excel at their jobs. He says that they will actually flood his mailbox with project updates and emails late at night. They tend to mix personal networking and work during traditional work hours but will also mix work with personal time during off hours. Born in 1971, my son has a very strong work ethic and expects the same from those who work for him. He gives me and his military experience credit for that. But, as a sensible executive, he recognizes what the question concerning these kids really is....do we struggle with productivity while we force these kids to conform...or do we make subtle changes to help them become productive members of the workforce? Managers can be flexible with professionals and white collar workers, but blue collar jobs on an assembly line or continuous process type operation demand strict compliance with schedules. The way I see it...War Babies like me or the early Baby Boomers will struggle to manage these kids...we tend to be very structured in business and industry. But, the Generation X managers like my son actually understand these Generation Y kids much better and may be able to "blend" them into the workforce.

[NormalFlora]

Very interesting observation. I noticed the gen Y attitude with the resident physicians I supervised. They could read and remember very easily, but whined and moaned when they were asked to complete surgery reports, inpatient charts, or outpatient clinic billing forms. They feel that "paperwork and other beaurocracy" is beneath them.

[seedtick]

@NormalFlora Your insight is very interesting, also. I had not thought about the medical field. But, your comments concerning "clerical type" work bring back the intergration of computers and cell phones into the workplace. At this point executives, middle managers, and engineers, were forced to input their own information/data and write their own correspondence. Many struggled and resisted this. They were used to having clerks and secretaries to do this.

[LGRepublican]

@NormalFlora Maybe they feel much of that work is beneath them because they've never had to suffer the consequences when those tasks aren't done. The devil's in the details and maybe what they need is to get bit in the a$$ as a direct result of ignoring those details.

[PayThatCEO]

@NormalFlora

How funny this should come up. I supervise a fellowship program. Duty hours, procedure logs, research updates...it's like pulling teeth. They are good clinicians, and they are far from overworked, but it's as if they think paperwork is something they just don't have to do. Good heavens, we computerized most of it. It's not like the even have to pick up a pencil.

But, a have a few much older attendings who are the same way, so it's hard to say if it relates to youth or is just simply a lackadaisical attitude.

[NormalFlora]

@PayThatCEO Oh my god I had a program director who was so spineless that he told the residents that I would do the data entry in the ACGME procedure log. When the chair, who was NOT spineless, found out he said NFW.

[Tralee]

What would help? A better education system, when I was in HS classes were taught in 3 tiers, general, business and college prep. Not everyone is destined for college and the business tier prepared those students for a job right out of high school, secretaries, general accounting and other jobs available that did not require a college education. General was more basic, teaching skills that could be put to use in construction, mechanical, electric or plumbing jobs. This push that everyone go to college is silly, not everyone is college material and we NEED plumbers, electricians, carpenters and mechanics. Labor that keeps manufacturing businesses going. The other thing we can do is stop treating them like gold for simply turning up for an event. They have been told they are #1 and the best even when they lose, they are emotionally unprepared for real life. In the real world no employer is simply thrilled that a worker showed up for work, they EXPECT them to show up and do their job. In the real world you will be hired if you have a skill, not just because you showed up and applied for a job and in the real world a degree in Sanskrit or Basket Weaving or Women's Studies or Gender Studies or Yoga are NOT job getting skills, they were a waste of time and money and parents and teachers need to make it quite clear that a marketable skill is what one goes to higher education sources for, not to major in Art or ballet or any of the other useless things that so many go for. Perhaps it's because they are not equipped to tackle the science or math or english needed to go for a teaching degree or a medical services degree or an engineering degree or any of the other specific jobs courses available. Perhaps they should have taken the Business tier in HS after all.