The importance of empowering Cuyahoga County youth through work experience
On average, 11,000 teens apply for Youth Opportunities Unlimited’s summer jobs program each year.
Crain’s Cleveland Business
November 21, 2021 04:00 AMDo you remember your first summer job? Maybe your first employment experience was an internship in a field you wanted to explore and later turned into a career. Maybe it was a job working with children, which made you realize you wanted to be a teacher. Maybe it didn’t lead to anything other than a paycheck you counted on each week, and perhaps a few new friends.
Whatever the outcome of your first work experience, it mattered. It went on your resume and it gave you valuable experience in learning how to navigate the workplace.
For youth living in poverty, summer jobs are critical. Employment can mean the difference between a life of crime and a productive adulthood. A 2019 Case Western Reserve University study showed that participation in a summer jobs program led to better school attendance, higher graduation rates, and less involvement in the criminal justice system.
Further, Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies has shown that summer jobs can be the ideal vehicle to put youth on a path toward economic self-sufficiency. The Center’s findings show that teens who work during their high school years have a greater lifelong earning potential than those who do not.
Finding summer employment today is not easy for young people. It’s even harder for minorities. A JPMorgan Chase study found that youth from low-income families, especially African Americans, secure fewer jobs than their middle-class counterparts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Black or African American youth 16-19 years old was 13.3% in July 2021, nearly twice that of their white peers.
How do we know our area’s teens are searching for jobs? On average, 11,000 teens apply for Youth Opportunities Unlimited’s summer jobs program each year. Available funding, however, cannot meet this demand.
Youth workforce agencies in Cleveland are invested in finding jobs for our young people. But the region needs more employment resources and opportunities for Cuyahoga County’s youth. The private sector must get involved in order to make real progress. Area teens hold the future of our communities in their hands, and employers can play a crucial role in providing them a pathway into a career and economic self-sufficiency.
Learn more about Youth Opportunities Unlimited’s workforce development efforts at youthopportunities.org.