This report from the Center for Promise at America’s Promise Alliance highlights results from a national study to better understand young people’s perspectives on their employment experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. 3,500 people aged 16-24 responded to this survey and their responses are represented in the findings below:
- Finding one: Young people in America are struggling—they are financially strained, emotionally drained, and facing significant barriers to employment.
- Finding two: COVID-19 and the related economic recession have disrupted young people’s work lives in myriad ways and prompted extraordinary levels of concern about the future.
- Finding three: Young people encounter pervasive race- and gender-based discrimination in the world of work.
- Finding four: The professional connections and supportive relationships that can help young people advance their work-related goals are out of reach for most youth.
- Finding five: Young people’s hope about their future work lives is in jeopardy
These findings center young people’s working career experiences and can be used to inform youthcentered policy, practice, and economic recovery efforts.
