Illinois Teens - Employment Unemployment Voting Information for Illinois Teenagers

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Teen Unemployment A Real Problem For Illinois Parents and Teens

UPDATE - AUGUST 8, 2015

NATIONAL TEEN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CREEPS-UP FROM APRIL 17.1% UNEMPLOYMENT TO MAY'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 17.9% (Source TownHall.com).

FEBRUARY 2015 UNEMPLOYMENT ACROSS ALL OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS
9.0% (JANUARY WAS 9.5%)
ILLINOIS vs. JOLIET - FEBRUARY 2015
6.0 9.0

January 30, 2015
From Catalyst Chicago News Magazine. "Teen Unemployment Continues to Rise in Chicago"
"In the past year or two, the economy has been moving forward, pumping out more and more jobs, but somehow what we’re seeing is that these kids are moving backward,” says Jack Wuest, executive director of the Alternative Schools Network. “What we’re seeing is that a lot of low-earning and part-time jobs that typically go to kids are now being taken by adults."

If you're like 1000's of Illinois Parents, living with a teenager in your home, you know it can be difficult at times to get them motivated, especially when it comes to working a part-time (or full-time) job.

We'll let's forget for a moment all their lounging, texting, Facebook posting, hanging at the mall, wasting countless hours in front of a gaming system or surfing the Net constantly... and let's say he/she is a really motivated young person who has been diligently looking for work in these trying economic times. Well, there's a difference between applying for jobs and landing that summer job to earn money or save up for those college text books and tuition...

There may be something more standing in their way... Its the Illinois economy and its lack of job recovery from as far back as 2008.

Let's learn why your Teen might be having trouble landing that important summer/winter job:

Let's take a look at Black Teen Unemployment across the Nation:
"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in February, the Labor Department reported on Friday. That's still rather high, but it's nothing compared to what black teens are grappling with: an unemployment rate that grew to 43.1 percent. That's higher than when the recession ended. It's also substantially higher than in November 2007, right before the recession started. Back then, the black teen unemployment rate -- teen being defined as anyone between the ages of 16 and 19 years old -- was 28.9 percent, according to Labor Department data." [Learn even more HERE about Black Unemployment in District 86.]

August 2013 General Employment Across Illinois:

On May 8, 2013, it was reported that in Illinois:
"Hikes in the federal minimum wage could hurt a group of Illinois workers already facing an unemployment rate of almost 30 percent. Illinois teens are finding it more and more difficult to find summer jobs. Right now, one in every four teens can't find a summer job.

A study by the Employment Policies Institute shows this [2013] summer will be the fifth consecutive year teens have seen an unemployment rate higher than 20 percent. According to the study, these youth will face hardships in the long run as well, because teen employment leads to larger earnings in their future careers.

Illinois ranks as the fifth-worst state for teen employment opportunities, according to Employment Policies Institute. The national teen unemployment rate is 24.1 percent."

ABC News Reports on May 10, 2013:
"Teenagers in West Central Illinois are hitting the unemployment line more than most others across the nation.

A recent study by the Employment Policies Institute puts Illinois at number nine when it comes to out-of-work teens between age 16 and 19. The unemployment rate for that age group is 27-point-two-percent. Experts say the state's high minimum wage could be a reason why teens are having a hard time finding work, but others say it could be because older workers are taking lower-paying jobs, thanks to the recession."

April 2013 National Youth Unemployment:
From Governing.Com: "The youth unemployment rate was 16.1 percent in April 2013 for those between the ages of 16 and 24, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the 16 to 19 age group, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 24.1 percent; for those ages 20 to 24, it was 13.1 percent."

Why is teen employment / unemployment important to focus on?
From Chicago Sun Times:
"Widespread high unemployment among teens is depriving them of the opportunity to learn key fundamentals, said Andrea Zopp, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Urban League. Among those fundamentals are “the importance of being reliable and responsible . . . not to mention having some income to help you buy books,” she said. She added, the absence of jobs also puts teens at risk for summer violence."

Well has anything changed in the past few years? Has the economy for #TEENS improved under either former Rep. Jack McGuire (D-IL Dist.86) or Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-IL Dist.86)?

As reported in January of 2011:
"A preliminary analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) shows that teen unemployment averaged 27.6 percent in Illinois in 2010. That’s the fifteenth highest in the country, and up from 25.8 percent in 2009."

CBS New reported in June of 2011:
"WBBM reports, the unemployment rate for teenagers, defined in Illinois as those aged 16-19, is 27 percent. That’s up from 25 percent in 2009."

UNEMPLOYMENT:
25% in 2009
27.6% in 2010
25.8% to 27% in 2011
25.2% April 2012
27.2% 2013

Only 27 percent of teens in Illinois had jobs [in 2011] – the lowest Illinois teen employment rate in the 42 years this data has been collected. The figures were worst for African American teens in Chicago, where only 10 percent had jobs.

The Great Recession clobbered teens with higher unemployment rates, fewer employment opportunities and fewer hours worked – a perfect storm.

---

Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, January 2012:

"In the nation, the teen employment rate fell from 45% in the 1999 - 2000 period to only 26% in 2011, a drop of 19 percentage points or 42%. This 26% teen employment rate was the lowest in the nation’s entire post World War II history.

Teen employment rates also declined sharply in Illinois over this same time period. Their teen employment rate fell from just under 50% in 1999 - 2000 to 36% in 2007 and to only 27.5% in 2011, the lowest in the past 42 years for which such state teen employment data exist."

END RESULT: Families... Parents... Keep Encouraging Your Teens To Go Out There And Find That Job! It's Not 100% Their Fault If They Can't Find Employment! Our State Legislature Has A Large Part In Shaping Our Economy ... Inaction By Former State Rep Jack McGuire and Current Rep Larry Walsh Jr. Have Hurt The Joliet and Illinois Economies!

AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENAGERS

The Chicago Defender Magazine states that as recent as late 2011, "the State Journal-Register in Springfield reports that state unemployment statistics show the unemployment rate for white youths is 24.7 percent but it's nearly double for black teenagers at 47.7. The statistics also show that 11.7 of black teenagers are employed. The rate is 30 percent for white teenagers and 26 percent for Hispanic teenagers."

LEARN MORE ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN UNEMPLOYMENT IN ILLINOIS HERE!!

In a 2012 Report by internet magazine "Loop 21.com" it states that overall unemployment in the African-American Community in Chicago-land stood at 15.5%.

JANUARY 24, 2013 REPORT:
"The Alternative Schools Network Report found that in low-income households (less than $40,000 annually) only 7 to 10 of every 100 black teens were employed in 2010 and 2011."

"Early in-school work experience has favorable effects on improving the transition from high school to the labor market upon graduation. National research over the past decade has revealed that the absence of in-school work among low to middle income high school students is associated with a higher frequency of dropping out of high school among males, a higher incidence of teenaged childbearing among women, and a greater incidence of juvenile delinquency and arrests."

FEMALES / WOMEN WHO'S LOOKING OUT FOR YOU?

From Voices for Illinois Children:
"Illinois climbed rapidly from 5 percent in 2007 to almost 10
percent in 2009. Unemployment for women rose from 4.5 to 8.7 percent. Between 2007 and 2009, the number of single-mother households in poverty increased by almost 14,000."

From the Shriver Center:
"In 2010 female unemployment rose and poverty rates were the highest in over 20 years. In Illinois [in 2010], the poverty rate is 13.8 percent, or almost one in seven. For female heads of households, the disparity is even greater—28.5 percent of female heads of households with no husbands present in Illinois lived in poverty in 2010."

REGARDING YOUNG WOMEN GRADUATING IN 2012-2013
Economy Policy Institute, May 2012:
"Unemployment has been above eight percent for more than three years, and 12.7 million workers remain unemployed today. The weak labor market has been, and continues to be, particularly tough on young workers: At 16.4 percent, the March unemployment rate for workers under age 25 was twice as high as the national average. Among young high school graduates, women earn 12.7 percent less than men, while among young college graduates, women earn 13.9 percent less than men. The wages of young high school graduates dropped by 10.1 percent (11.6 percent for men and 7.9 percent for women) between 2007 and 2011, and the wages of young college graduates dropped by 4.6 percent (5.1 percent for men and 4.1 percent for women) over the same period."

LEARN MORE HERE!!!

ILLINOIS 2013 SUMMER OF UNEMPLOYMENT

READ ARTICLE AT: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130531/discuss/705319981/

"Illinois parents, prepare yourselves: With a 28.6 percent teen unemployment rate heading into the summer of 2013, your jobless kids might be making frequent cash withdrawals from the Bank of Mom & Dad for their vacation spending.

There are a number of factors at work: More competition from older job-seekers, for instance, has put young and inexperienced applicants at a competitive disadvantage. But also at fault are a series of ill-conceived minimum wage mandates at the state and federal level, which raised the cost to hire and train the teens who fill those jobs."

Continued...

"In Illinois specifically, which has adjusted its minimum wage multiple times independent of the federal level, over 11,000 teen jobs have been lost due to mandated wage increases since 2005.

One need only look at the businesses where teens are employed to understand why. Roughly 35 percent of the state's employed teens work in the leisure and hospitality industry (think restaurants, movie theaters, hotels), while another 27 percent work in retail jobs at grocery stores, service stations and the like.

These types of businesses aren't exactly rolling in the dough. Their profit margins are generally 2 or 3 cents on every sales dollar. Sudden spikes in labor costs, like a 40 percent jump in the minimum wage in two years, leave these businesses with two options: raise prices or reduce costs."

"Illinois teens' share of employment in the leisure and hospitality industry dropped by over 30 percent between 2008 and 2011. In retail, it's fallen by nearly 29 percent during that same period.

This makes it all the more baffling that wage hike advocates in Congress and the Illinois statehouse would seek to raise the minimum wage even further."