The State of Youth Employment: Navigating the World of Work during COVID-19. The YES Project

The State of Youth Employment is the second segment of a research series focused on understanding the experiences, assets, and conditions that shape young people's career development. Finding a Way Forward--a 2020 exploratory study based on interviews with young people across the country--yielded several findings about how young people experience entry to and growth within the world of work. Insights included how young people conceptualized becoming ready for work, the connections and support that facilitate their professional development, and the inseparable relationships between their professional and personal lives. The State of Youth Employment builds upon that qualitative study to explore the state of young people within the workforce in this current moment in history. This publication aims to elevate young people's work and career experiences over the past year to inform youth-centered policy, practice, and economic recovery efforts moving forward. [For "Finding a Way Forward: Young People's Experiences Navigating the World of Work," see ED610277.]