What we see here: Employment has been increasing on the whole for Black youth since the early 2010s. However, with great fluctuations from year to year, this increase has not been as stable as the employment rates for white, non-Hispanic youth.

For an even closer look into these trends, check out the Partners section for graphs of the youth employment data broken down by both race and sex.

(data source: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Surveys 2011-2021, Employment Status for the Population 16 Years and Over (Black/African American), Table B23002B; (February 2021).)

Being employed - even just during the summer - has many benefits for teenagers and young adults. Working can build confidence, responsibility, and communication skills while helping young people make connections with adults who might serve as a mentor or reference in the future. The US Department of labor also reports that every year a person works as a teenager increases what they will be earning in their 20s by about 15%. Despite the benefits, employment during high school can also be a source of stress and frustration, so it is always important to be able to find a healthy balance.

From a racial equity standpoint, all young people who want to work should have equitable access to employment. Black youth typically have lower employment rates than white youth, and this gap does not shrink with age. For all age groups, unemployment rates for Black Americans are often double those of white Americans. We need to close these gaps and address the racial disparities in economic opportunity and wealth at all age levels.

• Connect youth to career paths:
  • Lansing Community College has an Apprenticeship Office that offers opportunities for both sponsored apprentices and the companies sponsoring them to learn a trade.
  • Workforce training programs funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) provide job-search assistance, workforce preparation, and career development services with both classroom and work-based learning options. The Lansing School District offers a WIOA youth program in partnership with Capital Area Michigan Works!
  • Internships can be a good way to try out certain career paths and build work skills and professional connections. However, a large number of internships are unpaid, often meaning that they are only feasible for young people who are affluent enough to have their living expenses covered while they are interning. As internships have become a more common requirement for certain career paths in the past decade, there have been more frequent discussions about the ethical issues surrounding unpaid internships.

• Develop comprehensive youth employment systems. Community-wide systems that unite stakeholders in education, child welfare, and juvenile justice can ensure that youth will be supported in their pursuit of employment by all the institutions they might come into contact with.

• Support summer youth employment programs. Many young people find their first job in the summer months between school years. Having city policies or local organizations that work with local businesses to encourage them to hire youth and young adults for short-term seasonal work makes it easier for teenagers to get valuable work experience during the months when they are most available. Specialized summer programs can also help low-income youth of color develop professional relationships and access networking opportunities that lead to even better jobs and long-term employment.

• Support youth financially while they are job-searching with expanded unemployment insurance (UI) or by introducing a universal basic income (UBI). When young people finish high school or their postsecondary education and have to find a job as soon as possible so they can cover their living expenses, they are likely to take whatever job is available instead of being able to stick it out to find a high-paying job they love. When young people have generous unemployment assistance, they have the time and money to find jobs that are better fits for their qualifications and needs. This association is even stronger for BIPOC and less educated workers.

The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) collaborates with partners across the Lansing area to support local small businesses and attract new businesses to the city to provide unique work opportunities for the people of Lansing. LEAP holds an annual Lansing Youth Startup Expo that gives students in grades 7 through 12 an opportunity to hone business and presentation skills that will help them later in life, especially if they have entrepreneurial aspirations. The Expo also allows youth to compete for cash prizes to launch their business ideas and get involved in the local business community.

The My Brother's Keeper and Girl's Equity Network (MBKGEN) network bring together local and statewide partners to leverage their collective power to meet racial equity milestones. These milestones center on ensuring equity and success at entering school, reading, graduating, continuing education, entering the workforce, and reducing violence for all children.

Since MBKGEN also looks at gender equity as well as racial equity, check out this further breakdown of this employment indicator by both race and sex.

• Support the Michigan CROWN Act that will ban discrimination due to natural, Black hair. Removing opportunities for discrimination in the workplace help us move toward racial equity. Click here to visit the Liberation PAC action center to learn more about the Michigan CROWN Act and show your support to our legislators.
• Let us know about groups in Metro Lansing that are working at the intersection of racial justice and economic justice! We would love to learn about the work that's already happening and potentially create new partnerships to increase capacity and sustain the work. Fill out this Community Partners Form to help us make connections and find even more ways to uplift racial equity work.

• Trends in Youth Employment During COVID-19, by Hande Inanc
• The Persistent Black-White Unemployment Gap is Built into the Labor Market, by Olugbenga Ajilore
• Close the Racial Wealth Gap with Baby Bonds, by Annie Lowrey
• Full Employment for the Young, Too, by Harold A Pollack
• YouthRules! website, from the US. Department of labor. Contains resources and information for working youth, their families, and employers.