The Disappearance of the Summer Job

We've added a new information box to the right hand navigation bar, highlighting unemployment and labor force participation rates among relevant demographic groups. It's not really aesthetically pleasing, but our web design skills consist mostly of rudimentary tinkering with HTML. It's still a work in progress.

A cursory glance at the data suggests that younger people continue to struggle to enter the workforce, especially relative to older people who were established in the workforce prior to the onset of the Great Recession.

After the jump, there be economic wonkery! And graphs! Beware!

Labor Participation Rate (in percent) over Time,
among the 16-19 year old  cohort (seasonally adjusted)

Unemployment Rate (in percent) over Time,
among the 16-19 year old cohort (seasonally adjusted)

We need to establish a few baselines to contextualize the data. At the height of the Tech boom in 2000, unemployment among the 16 to 19 year old cohort was 13.1 percent, with a labor participation rate of 52 percent. For the 20 to 24 year old cohort in 2000, the unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, with a labor participation rate of 77.8 percent. While one might argue that peak employment is a poor baseline, these numbers show just how far employment has fallen for young people over the last decade. There's no other way to spin it, though; these numbers are historically bad.

Digging into data from previous months and years shows an alarming trend. In 2011, the annual labor participation rate of 16 to 19 year olds in the United States stood at 34.1 percent, the lowest level recorded since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started collecting such data in 1948. Labor participation among this demographic group has been declining sharply since its recent peak around 50 percent at the end of the Tech boom. Furthermore, among those in the labor force, nearly a quarter are unemployed.

What does this mean? Well, this could be a good omen; perhaps fewer American teenagers need to work to support their families or to earn some pocket money. It is possible that teenagers are now able to spend more time enjoying their summers, rather than slinging burgers or restocking shelves. Both of these possibilities seem unlikely; over the last twenty years, incomes remained stagnant for most families.

Now more than ever, teenagers of working age could use a job. For those with aspirations for higher education, a summer job is a way to demonstrate work ethic and commitment to prospective college admissions officers. A positive work experience in high school can help set one apart from other college applicants.

An after-school or summer job isn't merely a resume builder; for those who intend to work after high school, it may be a lifeline. A 2001 study from Princeton University* showed that among young women, greater participation in the workforce as a teenager and young adult increased the likelihood of labor force attachment later in life.

More and more, high school and college graduates are coming into a job market where unemployment and, more ominously, long-term unemployment are a persistent feature.


On Monday, we'll see why it's more than just the recession that's hurting the chances of first-time workers. On Tuesday, we'll investigate ways to turn things around.

Graphs courtesy of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

* Alon, Donahoe, and Tienda,"The Effects of Early Work Experience," Social Forces, Vol. 79, No. 3, 1005-1034