Some workforce development programs specifically target people 16 to 24 years of age who are neither in school nor successfully participating in the labor market. Efforts to reengage youth in either school or work could yield long-term dividends for the individuals as well as for their communities.
A recent report by Measure of America estimates that in the U.S., roughly 13.8 percent of those in this age range were not in school and were either unemployed or had dropped out of the labor force in 2013. Referred to as “disconnected youth” in this report and “opportunity youth” in other quarters, this definition includes about 5.5 million youths nationally and describes more than 19 percent of those in this age range in West Virginia and Louisiana, but well under half that level in Nebraska, North Dakota, and a number of other states. As for the states covered by the Third Federal Reserve District, the percentage of youths meeting this definition was near the national average in Pennsylvania (13.3 percent) but was substantially higher in Delaware (15.4 percent) and lower in New Jersey (12.1 percent).