Youth, Work, and Unemployment.

The high unemployment rates experienced by teenagers, particularly those in minority groups, have been a continual source of public concern, a concern that led most recently to the passage of the $1.5 billion Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act. In attempting to understand this problem, it is helpful to examine the overall structure of the youth labor market. When young people leave high school and enter the labor market, they are generally not at once in a state of mind to be stable, reliable full-time employees. Rather, for many youths, sex, adventure and peer group activities are more important than work. Jobs are viewed in purely instrumental terms, as ways of getting money for these other activities. Young people who exhibit this pattern of behavior can be characterized as being in a moratorium stage. They have weak labor force attachments, frequently moving in and out of jobs as well as of the labor force itself. For many young people, particularly those whose families are in a position to provide some support, these secondary jobs adequately meet the requirements of the moratorium period.