Youth Unemployment Rate at 11.8 Percent; Fr. Dept. of Labor Chief of Staff Says 'Every American Should be Concerned'
With the presidential race heating up and youths expecting to play a vital role at the polls, Generation Opportunity President and former Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Labor Paul Conway is not pleased with numbers as they relate to the youth.
While the nation's unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8 percent, the unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds stands at 11.8 percent. The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 21.0 percent and the unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for 12.1 percent.
"Every American should be concerned," Conway told Latin Times. "When you have that level of unemployment it's not a good thing for the country. It's not a good thing for those respective communities."
Conway said sometimes government polices does not match the best insights or experience of the communities that they are seeking to help.
'If you take a look at the Hispanic and the African American community there is tradition of entrepreneurialism," he said. "The reason why this is fundamentally important is because if you take a look at some of the [tax policies and regulations] that are coming out, they impact small businesses and those are the businesses that usually create entry-level job first."
Conway said the reason why young people are unable to find jobs is because entry level jobs are not being created to absorb people who are looking for work.
According to the Labor Department, an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as "unemployed" because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
"These numbers tell a devastating story - a story we cannot afford to ignore or hope away," Conway said in a released statement. "The risk is far too high, as the promise of America is slipping past an entire generation. As fellow citizens, we have an obligation to act, to create opportunity, and to offer real hope and independence to young Americans."
Conway said he thinks that the jobs report mean a lot for the role youths will play in November.
"The economy is not growing at a level where people can look forward to aspirations to getting to a better place in life," Conway said. "So if you're a young person and you're looking at the economy and the new status quo is a series of part time jobs, you're not going to be enthusiastic for policies that keep doing that. We think that there is a very strong interest right now for [finding] the solution moving ahead and we think that people are smart enough to figure that out.'
Conway said President Obama's administration casually dismisses the facts and has a "stubborn insistence on moving forward with the same policies of the last three-and-a-half years regardless of the consequences."
"Young Americans know this is not fair, and they are asking why the White House continues to push policies that are moving them backward," Conway said in a released statement. "They want solutions, not slogans, not excuses, not empty promises. As young Americans watch the candidates lay out their plans and prepare to vote this November, they are making up their minds based on issues and who lays out the best plan for the economy, to create jobs, and allow the growth of opportunity so they can fulfill their hopes and dreams for the future. As the election nears, we continue to encourage all young Americans not yet registered to vote, to register now, while they still have time."
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