The Cost of One Jobless Youth to Taxpayers: $14,000 a Year

America’s youth are suffering their worst employment drought since World War II. It doesn’t take a great leap of the imagination to understand why this is a crisis. The young and jobless earn less later in life. They lose the chance to build crucial career skills. They rely on government support. They’re more likely to commit crimes.

And according to a new report, the worst off are sapping roughly $40,000 a year from the economy while costing the government $14,000 in taxes.

The White House Council for Community Solutions report, compiled by researchers from Columbia University and the City University of New York, profiles the economic lives of the roughly 6.7 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. Among that group of lost youth — the paper optimistically refers to them as “opportunity youth” — 3.4 million haven’t held a job or been to class since the age of 16. These are the “chronic” cases. Another 3.3 million have some additional schooling or marginal work experience, but no college or stable employment. The cohort is disproportionately black and Hispanic, although white youth still account for almost half of the group, which is evenly divided between men and women.

In one year, a single lost youth will cost all taxpayers $13,900. The total cost to the economy is $37,450, with most of that coming from crime — including the price of cops, courts, and prisons, as well as the cost to victims. By comparison, government welfare and healthcare costs are a drop in the bucket.

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

Read More @ What Does One Jobless Youth Cost Taxpayers? $14,000 a Year – Jordan Weissmann – Business – The Atlantic.

.