New Report Warns of Growing Number of 'Disconnected Youth'

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Every year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, puts out its County Health Rankings report, which offers a county-by-county snapshot of how the nation measures up in various areas of public health.

This year's report includes a new metric — a look at our nation's "disconnected youth," sometimes referred to as "opportunity youth." These are young Americans ages 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school. In 2015, there were about 4.9 million youth — or 1 out of 8 young Americans — who were not in school or working.

Clive Belfield is a professor of economics at Queens College City of New York. He co-authored a study in 2012 that measured the economic burden of opportunity youth. Kate Kingery is deputy director of Community Transformation at County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Belfield and Kingery discuss the social and economic conditions that have led to a rise of disconnected youth in America, and the long-term implications of young people being disengaged. 

See Also: Chicago Program Builds a New Path For Disconnected Youth