Report: 15% of Youth Out of Work, School

According to a study released today, 15% of youth aged 16-24 are out of work and out of school. The Opportunity Nation coalition reports that almost six million young people “have neither desk nor job.”

And it’s not just the young who are suffering. The report finds that “49 states have seen an increase in the number of families living in poverty and 45 states have seen household median incomes fall in the last year.”

Rob Denson, president of the Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa explains, “A lot of times we don’t want to look at data because we don’t want to be depressed. If they’re not in school or at work,” Denson said, “they’re not usually doing something positive.”