To help alleviate unemployment for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-1st, recently introduced an $8 billion measure to make a giant step towards eliminating unemployment, reducing the national dropout rate, decrease youth viole
To help alleviate unemployment for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-1st, recently introduced an $8 billion measure to make a giant step towards eliminating unemployment, reducing the national dropout rate, decrease youth violence and provide several opportunities for at-risk youth and young adults. “We all know the unemployment rate for adults is staggering but rarely do we discuss just how bad it is for our most vulnerable citizens — young people. More than 60 percent of our eligible youth workers cannot find employment and nearly half of all African American youth are unemployed. Our youth need work and opportunity now, otherwise we condemn an entire generation to the pitfalls of poverty and despair,” said Rush. The legislation, the Employing Youth for the American Dream Act of 2010, is a combination of training funds, apprenticeship programs, employer grants for on-the-job training, tax incentives and preferences for youth hiring and opportunities for at-risk teens. The bill also creates a federally-funded public service employment program that focuses on year-round jobs in education, parks and infrastructure for young people. From April to July 2009, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased nationally by 1.6 million to 19.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
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