One in Six Young Adults in the United States Is Not Working or in School--Casey Foundation Study Calls Them Disconnected From Ordinary Life and is Concerned about Their Future

A new report by the Anne E. Casey Foundation shows that  that nearly one in six young adults, ages 18 to 24, are not working, have no degree beyond high school, and are not enrolled in school. Without a job, and at best a high school education, these “disconnected” youth face a particularly tough transition to successful adulthood, according to the study, the 2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

“It is alarming that the number of disconnected youth is roughly 15 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds,” declares Douglas W. Nelson, president of the Foundation, located in Baltimore. “Since 2000 alone, the ranks of these young adults grew by 700,000, a 19 percent increase over just three years. Over 3.8 million disconnected youth face a greater likelihood of bad outcomes, now and in the future, which holds severe implications for our society.”

The Data Book finds that these disconnected youth are from low-income and predominantly minority backgrounds. It presents a stark picture of who are America’s disconnected young adults, why it is so critical that effective supports be put in place, and what young adults need to succeed. The essay focuses especially on a subgroup of young people who are the most at-risk kids in the country — kids who have been failed by our public systems. They face even worse odds and are most likely to consistently falter in adulthood. The experiences that define this sub-group are:
 

• Teens in foster care
• Teens involved in the juvenile justice system
• Teens who have already had children of their own
• Teens who never finished high school.

For the Kids Count website see http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/  .  For the full report (212 pdf pages) see http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/databook/pdfs_e/kc2004_e.pdf