In Chicago area, 84 percent of black teens ages 16 to 19 unemployed

http://www.suntimes.com/5059160-417/jobs-for-only-25-of-teens-study.html

The absence of federal stimulus money this year means the City of Chicago will have 22 percent fewer jobs for young summer workers. There will be 14,000 teen summer jobs available this year, down from 18,000 offered by Mayor Daley last year.
Besides losing out on valuable work experience, the absence of summer jobs puts teens at risk for potential summer violence, said Chicago Urban League President and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Zopp.
The league is partnering with education representatives to present a youth hearing today on summer jobs and violence prevention strategies. Among those partners is the Alternative Schools Network, which commissioned the report.
“There’s a direct connection to idle teens and violence,” Zopp said.
The report showed that while employment rates have declined for every age group 54 and younger over the past decade, teens have fared the worst, and blacks and Hispanics have been hit the hardest. In 2009, 70 percent of teens ages 16 to 19 nationally were unemployed.
Among black teens, the rate was 79.4 percent, among Hispanics 73.5 percent and among whites 65.7 percent, Labor Department data show.
In the metropolitan Chicago area, 84 percent of teens ages 16 to 19 were unemployed that year, 72 percent of Hispanics and 64 percent of whites.
“It’s a crisis situation, and there needs to be some sort of funding for young people so they can have jobs,” said Jack Wuest, executive director of the Alternative Schools Network.
Sum recommends the creation of tax credits for employers who hire teens. He says that funding to help employers subsidize a portion of teen wages would also help address the problem.

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