Youth Unemployment: Are Adults Stealing Teen Jobs?

Youth Unemployment: Are Adults Stealing Teen Jobs?

It's not just adults who are concerned about finding jobs right now: according to a United Nations Report released this week, 75 million people aged 15-24 don't have jobs. This means youth unemployment in The United States has risen a whopping 12.7%.

And the effects of this could be long-term. The International Labor Organization warns that youth who become "disheartened about the future" are connected with increased crime rates in some countries, increased drug use, and depression.

Could it be that young people are spending an increased amount of time on college prep and summer classes? Possibly. But a new Federal Reserve analysis points to an even more important factor in youth joblessness: competition from adults. Desperate, unemployed grownups are increasingly applying to what have been typically seen as "teen" jobs in areas like food services, the report states.

HuffPost Business points out that "the number of adults in teen jobs rose by 5 million from 1995 to 2010. If it weren't for the crowd-out, the teenage employment-to-population ratio could have been up to 5 percentage points higher in 2010."

Are you surprised by these stats? Have you been having trouble finding an after-school job? If you have a job, have you noticed more adults working with you? Share your reactions in the comments.

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