American Teens Finding it Harder to Get a Job

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the workforce participation rate among American teens has dropped by 10% to just 25% over the last 5 years. The participation rate was consistently near 50% during the 1980s and ’90s, but has dropped steadily since then.

According to a report from MSNBC, teens are finding fewer job opening than they did in past years. The report also says teens from poor families who need the money most are most impacted by the current situation.

Algernon Austin, who serves as the director of the race, ethnicity and the economy program at the Economic Policy Institute, found that 16-to-19 year olds from families with incomes below the poverty line, regardless of race or ethnicity were less likely to be working while teens from middle class families had a better chance. Their communities are most likely to be impactedby high levels of low-skilled immigration and illegal immigration.

For more information, see MSNBC.com.