Disconnected Youth: Some Young Californians Lack Work, School Options

A new analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California finds the state’s economy is leaving a significant share of young people behind.

More than 1 in 10 Californians between the ages of 16 and 24 were not in school, working, or looking for a job in 2022, the institute found. That’s lower than at the height of the 2009 recession, but higher than just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The gender balance among these so-called “disconnected youth” has flipped, the study says: 20 years ago young women made up the majority of Californians neither working nor studying; today young men are the majority of the disconnected. Young women also outnumber men in high school Advanced Placement classes and on college campuses.

“What are we going to do with these young males that are just not completing their high school or higher education and are not working? Are we OK with that?” asked Daniel Payares-Montoya, who authored the analysis. “That seems like a lost opportunity for them and for society in general.”

About 20% of young Black men are disconnected from school and employment, researchers found, the highest of all demographic groups studied.

California has spent more than $3 billion on career education programs in high schools since 2015, training students on everything from film production to welding. Yet residential segregation creates islands of poverty and isolation, where it’s difficult for young people to access opportunities, studies show.

Young people “might say ‘I’m not going to be able to access higher education, so why am I going to be concerned now about even finishing high school?’ ” Payares-Montoya said.

The state is expanding some dual-enrollment programs, which enable high school students to take community college classes. That could serve a more diverse pool of young people and help college feel more attainable, he said.

But as long as some young people lack opportunities to study or work, “we are going to keep seeing these situations related to inequity and social unrest that we have been seeing for decades,” Payares-Montoya said.