Youth Radio - Topic: Economy

The High Price Of Teen Work: Teens pitch in to boost family income during tough times

rgee — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:44:19 -0700

This piece was originally published on Boyle Heights Beat.

By Jennifer Lam

A typical school night for most teens may be made up of sports practice, dinner, homework and maybe a study session. But school nights don’t look like this for 16-year-old Theodore Roosevelt High School student Guadalupe Castro. Ever since he was ten, he’s had a job cleaning floors and scrubbing toilets as a janitor working night shifts.

After a long day at school, tennis and marching band practice, Castro gets home at about 6 p.m. He helps out by cooking dinner for the whole family before they all rush off to that night’s scheduled cleaning, which runs until 9:30 p.m. If he’s lucky, he’ll finish his homework on the car ride home. If not, a long night awaits him until he does.

Many teens in Boyle Heights feel it’s their responsibility to help their families make ends meet although it may affect their academics.

Castro works three times a week helping his parents clean stores and other venues. His parents picked up this family side job after his father’s work hours as a tailor were cut and his wages dropped to $200 a week.

Although Castro doesn’t ask to get paid for his hours worked, his parents give him $25 for working Sundays. That’s enough to pay his cell phone bill. His parents make a combined total of $1,000 a week for the family of four.

Not thinking twice about it, Castro says he doesn’t mind being a working student because he knows his parents need his help. “I saw that they were struggling, so I just started helping them.”

Roosevelt HIgh School junior Guadalupe Castro works on homework after school. Photo by Jennifer Lam

Economy hits teen employment rate

The tough economy has meant there are fewer jobs for teens now than there were in the past. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate for 16-to-19-year-olds is currently 25%, nearly twice as high as it was in 2000. In California, teens have been hit even harder. As of December 2012, the state’s teen unemployment rate jumped to 35 percent, up from 17% in the year 2000.

Castro didn’t apply for a job in retail or at a fast food joint–he jumped on whatever he could. This is the case for many students like Castro who step up to provide support for their struggling families.

An analysis of data by the Economic Policy Institute showed that in 2009, teens from poor families were less likely to find work than their middle-class peers.

“The labor market is particularly difficult to the disadvantaged. People from lower income backgrounds and people of color tend to have worse labor market outcomes,” explains Algernon Austin, director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute.

Austin adds that in communities where people generally have low levels of education, the jobs teenagers take are likely the same type of work they will have as adults. However, it’s been particularly difficult for young workers to find jobs because “they generally have low levels of skill and little experience, which makes them less desirable to employers.

But while students are pitching in to help the family, they’re not as attentive to their school-time commitments.

Castro started working in elementary school at the age of 10. But work didn’t affect his academics until high school, when the workload became too heavy to manage.

“[My grade point average] started going down because I would get home tired, like really tired, and I would finish half my homework. Then while I was doing homework, I would fall asleep out of exhaustion,” says Castro.

Joanna Williams, assistant professor of education at the University of Virginia, analyzed past data with other researchers on the effects of part-time work on adolescents. The 2011 study found that teens were likely to spend less time on homework the more hours they worked.

“We found that kids who were working in these higher intensity jobs more than 20 hours a week over the course of a year had higher levels of substance abuse and higher levels of disobedient behavior compared to kids that were working less or working not at all,” she says.

Teens surveyed also reported that that their minds wandered in class; they had lower expectations for doing well; they were less engaged in school, and moved from harder to easier classes in order to try to do well.

Oscar de la Hoya Charter High School sophomore Maylet Flores organizes inventory during her weekend shift at her mother’s booth at El Mercado de Los Angeles. Photo by Jennifer Lam

Culture plays a role in why teens work

Maylet Flores, a sophomore at Animó Oscar de la Hoya Charter High School grew up seeing her brothers help their single mother with the family business. So at 13, when Flores was asked to help sell toys at her mother’s booth at el Mercado de Los Angeles on weekends, it was the passing of a torch from her older brothers.

She admits that she often doesn’t want to work because she’d rather spend time on homework and school projects.

“School is going to get me further and staying here isn’t going to get me anywhere,” she said as she sits surrounded by toys to be sold.

But Flores understands how important her time and effort are to her family. If she didn’t lend a hand, her mother would have to hire a worker, something she can’t financially afford.
“I feel I have to come and help my mom and do my part,” says Flores.

Williams, says many teens from immigrant cultures work because they focus on collective goals and put group priorities first.

“There is just going to be a natural tendency for kids with the cultural background to be expected to contribute to their family’s well being,” said Williams.

Castro and Flores say no one is pressuring them to work, but they do feel it’s their obligation. Their parents, they say, also understand the importance of education and hope their kids get the college education they never did.

“[My parents] feel proud because I’m taking stress off them,” says Castro. “I don’t feel like I should be getting paid for helping them out. I just do it out of my own heart.”

Not Struggling But Not Happy? No Sympathy

rgee — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:20:49 -0700

A recent article published on the Huffington Post entitled “A Struggle of Not Struggling” is generating a lot of controversy, and with good reason. The economy still isn’t great, with millions upon millions of Americans fighting just to pay the bills, and here comes Little Ms. 22 year-old Taylor Cotter saying that she wishes she could be like that. Yes, she wants to be “struggling.” First world problems, anyone?

While most people would love to able to just eat at The Cheesecake Factory every once in awhile, Cotter comes out with what I thought was the most absurd statement I’ve heard in months: “I suppose that I'm grateful that I can make all my car payments and start saving for retirement while most of my friends are living at home and working part-time jobs -- but I often find myself lamenting the fact that I'm not living at home and not working a part-time job.”

Go ahead and read that sentence again. I’ll wait. I mean, what is she even trying to say with this? Is doing the most unsubtle "humblebrag" ever? Does she honestly feel that way? No. That can’t be it. There’s no way that’s possible.

Okay, okay. I must confess, Taylor. I’ve felt similar at times. When my typical teenager friends are going through typical teenager problems and typical teenager emotions, I feel like you. Sometimes I think, “Why can’t I be bullied? Why can’t I be depressed all the time? Why can’t I cry over everybody?” And I guess I sound a lot like you. HOWEVER!

The main difference between me and you is that I come to my senses and realize that I don’t want to be like my typical teenage friends. Because I should feel lucky that I’m better off than they are, not left out. And I bet if you tried to live like your “friends” you wouldn’t enjoy it. You want to live like the “real” people do on Girls? Well guess what? That’s a tv show, in case you haven’t noticed. One of the main characters in Girls, Hannah, lives in an expensive neighborhood in Brooklyn. One day, her parents cut her off from financial support. Oh no, what a struggle.Having to make your own money? Hand me a tissue because I’m about to cry.

I also noticed that you said you only graduated college two months before writing the article. So Taylor, you’ve lived pretty well for two months and you think you’ve had it all? Plenty of people have nice jobs and comfortable lives for two months. Is that how 22 year-olds measure success?

Now, I’d say “be careful what you wish for,” but just keep on wishing, Taylor. Keep on wishing.

Inter view With 24 Year-Old Author Of "2012 for Twentysomethings"

rgee — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:55:46 -0700

Youth Radio's Kayla Seay interviewed Salvator La Mastra, 24 year-old author of "2012 for Twentysomethings: A Young Voter's Guide to the 2012 Elections." La Mastra attempted to lay out the basics for first-time voters. The book includes chapters on important issues like taxes and the economy, as well as important political terminology and a run-down of the Bill of Rights. La Mastra can relate to young people who are completely out of the loop when it comes to politics -- as a student at Baylor University, he could care less who was elected, which is the stereotype of people in their early twenties. But La Mastra says it's important that young people check in.

Seay: What do you think are the most common barriers to getting involved in politics?

La Mastra: It's gonna be a very negative campaign from both sides -- it's already been a very negative campaign from the Republican Primaries. I think that negativity is really going to turn off a lot of people this year and I think it's going to be interesting to see how the politicians really try to turn it around and get their base and voters inspired to go out and vote. That's gonna be a huge barrier this time around-- to get it back to the positive arena.

Seay: what conversations have you had with your friends about voting?

La Mastra: Contraceptives were the big issue a few weeks ago and it's something different everyday. It's good to have an open and civil conversation about politics and be able to talk with each other because you don’t know what you might learn from your friends. Even if you don’t always agree with each other, it's always good to sit down and talk about it.

Seay: In the book you have chapters on the economy, unemployment, and health care. How did you decide which issues to write about?

La Mastra: I did the research and I looked at a bunch of polls...these were the consistently the top issues for young voters...obviously unemployment among youth is very high, and the population as a whole.

Seay: So what issue are YOU are most concerned about?

La Mastra: I think all of the ones I researched are very important. I think the economy and unemployment are probably the most critical in this election at least. We’ve had some good news with the stock market closing very high these last couple months and so maybe things will turn around. But unemployment is still very high, I think that will be a big reason that youth will go out and vote this year.

Seay: Which issue was the toughest to research?

La Mastra: It was hard to try and go through and weed out the partisan information and really find the core people who were really trying to promote economic growth. So what i did in that chapter was to talk about the economy and what led to the economic meltdown in 2008. and how the housing bubble burst. and then when i went to at the end as to the democrats and republicans would approach it. I also talked about how a successful businessman would handle it and i used donald trump as an example because he has been very vocal lately and i used president clinton who had a very successful presidency when it came to jobs in the economy.

Seay: Was it hard to explain the issues without taking a side?

La Mastra: I actually didn’t have a hard time doing that because I’m an independent. so it wasn’t like i was rooting for one party over another and it was a little difficult to find non-partisan info at first, but then, when once I did find the correct websites, a lot of the government websites, which are mostly non-partisan and then being able to pick through different types of media and find the facts.

Seay: What are your recommendations for first-time voters?

La Mastra: That's the reason I set out to write this book. I didn't want to write it to create more Democratic voters or more Republican voters, I wanted to create educated voters. Wherever your moral compass leads you to vote, that's what you should do. I think that it's hard to become an educated voter nowadays. I found really good way for me, was I would watch ABC, FOX, CNN -- switch around. Don't just stick to one media source. You need to get informed so you don’t fall for the traps from the political ads on tv.

The Recession Hits Home

rgee — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:34:13 -0800

This story was originally published on L.A. Youth.

By Jennifer Gonzales-Romero

My mom, my brother and I used to go to the movies or eat out almost every weekend. We weren’t rich but I could tell my mom wasn’t struggling because she could always afford to take us out. Things changed in June 2009 when my mom was laid off from her job as an assistant property manager for a property management office.

I never thought she’d lose her job because she’d been working there for eight years. But since she didn’t look worried, I didn’t worry either. My mom had savings and the government gave her unemployment—money you get from the government every two weeks after you’ve been laid off. But she still made sure to budget her money.

We didn’t eat out or go to the movies as often. Out of habit, I’d ask my mom to buy me clothes when we were at the store but she said she couldn’t. So I would mostly ask my dad whenever I went over to his house because he had a job. Many times my junior year I’d come home after band practice and see my mom on her laptop looking for jobs, but she wasn’t having much luck. I didn’t think it would take two years for her to find a job and that she’d struggle to pay her bills.

The summer before senior year, I researched colleges. My dream school was the University of La Verne because I thought its small class sizes would be better for me. Tuition cost $31,300 a year but I thought financial aid would cover everything since my mom was unemployed. By the end of the summer I knew that I couldn’t depend on my parents to buy me new clothes and pay for my senior year expenses so I kept my summer job at Little Caesars.

In late September my mom started dating an old classmate from New Orleans. He and his daughter moved here and my mom and them moved into a three-bedroom home. My brother and I stayed in our apartment and my dad moved in with us so we could continue going to school in South Gate. My mom and her boyfriend got married in December.

My mom started to worry

At the beginning of 2011, I started to notice that my mom was struggling. Her mail was still sent to the apartment where I lived with my dad, so she would call almost every other day asking me whether her unemployment check had arrived. When I would say no she would say “OK” in a worried voice. She had been receiving unemployment for a year and a half and to keep getting it she had to prove she was still looking for a job. She told me she was worried that they wouldn’t believe she was having trouble finding one and that they would cut her off.Her husband wasn’t working either because he was having trouble finding a job in construction. I felt bad.

One day in March, I was doing homework in my mom’s room. She was sitting on her bed going through papers when she told me she was behind with her car payments. She started crying and said that she didn’t know how she was going to pay for her car and for rent. It hurt me to see her cry and I started tearing up too. I wanted to help her but I didn’t know how. I knew that if she couldn’t pay her car loan that they would take her car away, but she needed it. How else would she go to job interviews or pick my brother and me up so we could stay at her house?

In April, my mom scored a temporary job as an assistant property manager. I was hoping that they would keep her permanently. But after five weeks they didn’t need her anymore, so she went back to looking for a job. Around the same time I noticed that my mom’s husband was borrowing her car more often. I asked my mom what happened and she said he sold his car and they used the money to pay for rent. Still, I didn’t think their situation was so bad because they still had their home and money to buy food. But now that I look back, my mom had been worrying about a lot of bills.

In May I decided that I wanted to get my prom dress made so that it would be unique. I asked my mom if she could help pay for it since my dad had offered to pay $100. I think she knew how much it meant to me so without any hesitation she said she could pay $100 too. I was so excited. I didn’t feel bad for asking because if she had said no, I would have understood. I wanted prom to be perfect and I was just thinking about that.

A couple of weeks later my mom picked up my brother and me from my dad’s house, and I gave her three letters from the unemployment office. When she read them, she looked worried. I asked her what was wrong and she said that they were no longer going to give her unemployment. When she started driving she remained quiet and looked like she was thinking. Then she started crying and said that she had a lot of bills to pay and she didn’t know what she was going to do.

I thought about saying, “It will be OK, things will get better” but it didn’t seem right because I didn’t know whether things would get better. My brother and I kept quiet for the rest of the car ride. I wanted to offer her money but the only money I had I was going to use to buy my prom ticket. I didn’t want to be selfish but I didn’t want to miss out on one of my most memorable high school experiences. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find a job. She had a college degree, she was outgoing and hardworking, so why wouldn’t anyone hire her? She couldn’t help pay for my prom dress The next day she called and told me that she was having trouble paying rent and that they were going to move into a one-bedroom apartment. She told me she couldn’t give me the $100 anymore. I understood and told her it was OK. But now I didn’t have enough money either so I didn’t know what I was going to do.

My next paycheck wasn’t until the day of prom. I didn’t want to ask my dad for money because he couldn’t afford it and I knew he would get mad that my mom couldn’t contribute since they always split the expenses for me and my brother. My mom suggested I use some of the money I had saved for college from selling pastelitos, a Central American meat pocket, at school. I didn’t want to but it was the only way I could get money fast. I promised myself I would pay back every cent after my next few paychecks. Then my mom asked me if she could borrow $120 from my pastelito money. I was shocked she was asking me for money, but I said yeah. It showed how badly she needed it if she was asking me.

Although it hurt to hear what my mom was going through, it felt nice to finally have a way to help her. I had fun at prom because I was hanging out with my boyfriend and my best friend and her date. I was excited prom was finally happening and graduation was approaching. Around the same time, I found out that the University of La Verne was going to give me about $24,000 in grants and scholarships, which left me with about $11,000 to pay myself or through loans for the rest of the tuition, books, food and personal expenses.

One of the loans had to be taken out by one of my parents, and it was the loan with the most money, $4,000. I asked my parents but they didn’t want to take out the loan because my dad had bad credit and my mom had no income. I understood but it meant that I would be able to take out only $7,000 in loans so I would have to work part-time while going to school. I hoped I would make enough money to pay for my phone, gas and other expenses.

In June my mom went for a second job interview as a payroll clerk. I knew how hard my mom was looking for a job and I was hoping that they would hire her. After the interview she picked me up so we could open a checking account. She said they would call her later in the day to tell her whether she got the job. When we were opening the account with a banker, they called her. She stepped outside the banker’s cubicle while I finished opening my account. When she was done she came in crying with a smile on her face. I knew it was good news. She said they gave her the job and she would start next week. I was happy so I gave her a hug.

Afterward, we picked up my little brother and celebrated her new job by going to a restaurant to eat tacos. Now that my mom has a job, things have gotten better for her. She and her husband moved into a three-bedroom apartment and she’s been paying her bills off. She also has extra money again so she and her husband go out to eat on weekends sometimes. When my mom lost her job I was busy with my own life—just worrying about school, being in band and college applications. But as I watched my mom struggle, I realized how hard it is to make money and how the economy could affect even those who are good at budgeting their money or have a college degree.

Seeing my mom struggle makes me worry about whether I will get a job after I graduate from college. I realize now that it’s hard for a lot of people to get jobs, especially young people because we’re inexperienced. I now know how expensive life is when you’re an adult I’m scared about one day living on my own because I will have to pay for rent, groceries, utilities, the Internet, cable and all this other stuff. My job at Little Caesars is minimum wage and I couldn’t support myself on that.

Looking back, I could have asked my mom if she had enough money to pay all her bills. If I knew that earlier, I could have understood that she was struggling. If I had saved my money from my job instead of spending it on clothes, I think I could have paid for my prom dress myself. Now, I’m more appreciative of what my parents are able to give me. My mom has agreed to pay for my car insurance. I appreciate her help because I know it’s hard for her since she is still trying to pay off her bills.

To thank my dad, I’m helping around the house more and contributing to some house expenses since he is letting me live with him for free while I go to college. I wish my mom didn’t have to go through that financial struggle, but I’m glad I’ve learned from it. Save money for emergencies. Make sure I don’t go into debt. This is the perfect time to realize that before I’m living on my own.

[Excerpt] Youth Unemployment Since Lehman Brothers Collapse: Greece Compared To U.S.

rgee — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:10:38 -0800

As we look back on 2011, youth unemployment in European countries like Greece and Spain has almost reached 50 percent, according to the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in the United States, youth unemployment (ages 16 - 25) has decreased since January 2011 from 18.1 percent to 16.8 percent. The Reuters chart above shows European youth unemployment over the past 20 years demarcated by some economic triggers, including the Lehman Brothers collapse.

This event took a toll on the global economy, but since then, unemployment for young people in Greece and Spain has increased close to ten percent every year. Since the collapse in September 2008, youth unemployment in the U.S. has increased3 percent overall.

In Greece, you can start working at the age of 15 and in Spain at the age of 16, the same as in the U.S. These numbers represent those from the minimum working age up to 25.

Since the Lehman Brothers collapse, France and Germany’s youth unemployment rates have either stayed relatively level or decreased.

Check out a chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows unemployment rates by month over the last ten years for 16 - 24 year-olds.

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Unemployment Rate - 16-24 yrs. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Young Men Among Hardest Hit By Unemployment Study Says

denise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:41:01 -0800

According to a story in Monday's Wall Street Journal, young men have it roughest in the down economy. The WSJ reports that:

- 14.4% of men between the ages of 25 and 35 with high school diplomas are unemployed, up from 6.1 percent just four years ago.

- High school grads younger than 25 suffer even worse. Their rate of unemployment has risen from 10.4 percent four years ago to 22.4 percent today.

- According to the Census Bureau, 18.6% of young men live with their parents, the highest rate since the 60’s.

[Opinion] Occupy Wall Street: Can Big Business Be The Answer, Not The Bad Guy?

rgee — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:45:06 -0700

Read Turnstyle News' Full Occupy Wall Street Coverage

Delanie Ricketts, Turnstyle News

I don’t believe all big business is bad business. While I identify with Occupy Wall Street protesters’ grievances with corporate America, I have a different vision of what needs to change. I see business as our most valuable ally in the quest for social justice. And in a bad economy, I see job opportunities for myself in that world too.

I didn’t always feel that way. I knew I wanted to study poverty ever since I moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 5^th grade. As my family and I drove to our future home, my ten-year-old self was baffled by the endless string of shacks, pollution, and people living on less than a dollar a day. I thought to myself, “Is this where we’ll be living?” But as expats, of course, we lived in a very nice, manicured condo.

Nonetheless, right outside my window poverty stared me right in the face. Why was it that I could live a life of luxury while my neighbors could not? After moving back to the United States, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I saw myself working for an NGO to right the injustice and inequity I experienced in Jakarta. Once I enrolled as a student at the University of California Berkeley, this dream became complicated.

As part of my liberal arts major, I decided to take a business class. It was in this class that I started thinking differently about big business. I discovered, with readily available capital and power worldwide, corporations can be extremely valuable actors in the effort to end poverty, despite a focus on profits. Although many people, including some of my peers here at UC Berkeley, are skeptical of businesses that claim to be making a difference, I am optimistic. My optimism is fed by the huge amount of people I see already working towards making businesses become more socially responsible.

To me, Occupy Wall Street represents a whole movement of people dedicated to demanding that corporations become more socially just. As more and more businesses decide to meet these demands, I see more and more opportunities for myself to create a career advising companies how to change. I don't see that as selling out, but being part of the solution. Already in my business class this semester, I'm spending time analyzing social justice efforts in major companies.

One of my assignments was to write recommendations to Apple for their future Supplier Responsibility report. Through my research, I learned a lot -- mainly that while Apple isn’t perfect, it appears to be making serious efforts to be socially responsible, dispelling the myth, at least for me, that all big business is bad business. Corporate America doesn’t have to be our enemy, especially if future CEO's and leaders of NGO's are already at the table together in business school classes like mine.

Graph: Female Grads Outnumber Male Grads

rgee — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:20:56 -0700

By Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a think-tank that provides a forum for governments to come together and problem solve, released new data that shows female graduates outnumber their male counterparts in 32 out of the 34 member countries.

Estonia has the highest overall percentage of female graduates as well as the highest percentage of women studying STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- fields. (Check out Turnstyle's reporting on theories about why women are the minority in STEM-related fields.)

The United States has about as many female graduates in STEM fields as Germany and Turkey. In terms of women graduating with degrees in the Arts and Humanities, the U.S. is near the bottom of this list. In the majority of OECD countries, women are most likely to graduate in health and welfare related fields. China, oddly, doesn't have specific data for the fields that their women graduate in, according to this chart.

Via the Economist.

Young People Stand Behind Planned Parenthood

denise — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:16:21 -0700

Talking about sex may not be the most comfortable conversation for people, but it’s definitely something young people are talking about more than ever. Students of Wesleyan University created the “I Have Sex” video as their way to protest against the cuts that would target Planned Parenthood. The video shows young people holding a sign and admitting that they are sexually active and on birth control.

Planned Parenthood provides affordable forms of birth control and contraceptives, sex-ed programs, free cancer screenings, pap smears, gynecological exams, free STI and STD testing and other health services.

Not Easy For Japanese Youth To Get Ahead

rgee — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:26:50 -0800

In the U.S., there are certain sectors of the workforce that are very youth-centric. We even have companies like Mr. Youth that strive to make the work environment accommodating to young people. This is not the case in Japan. There, stark generational inequalities are pushing young people to leave the country, remain in school, or face unemployment.

According to the New York Times, the interests of older workers in Japan are protected, whereas younger workers often remain on temporary contracts without benefits and lower salaries for a long time. In Japan, the young people have been hit the hardest by the global economic downturn.

The Times article states, “A nation that produced Sony, Toyota and Honda has failed in recent decades to nurture young entrepreneurs, and the game-changing companies that they can create, like Google or Apple — each started by entrepreneurs in their 20s.”