Combatting violence with jobs for youths
DURING THE past few weeks, attention has been focused on the rise in fatal shootings and gang-related activities in Boston. Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino recently announced joint efforts to combat gang violence, including an expansion in youth summer jobs. Renewed public policy attention to youth labor market problems in Boston and the state is clearly warranted . While the overall number of jobs has increased over the past few years, the labor market for teenagers in both the nation and state has remained extraordinarily weak.
Employment rates for the nation's and state's teens (age 16-19) in 2005 and 2006 were the lowest in the past 50 years. Male high school students and dropouts across the state have found it particularly difficult to find work over the past six years, often increasing their involvement in gang and criminal activities.
To make matters worse, job opportunities for high school youths are distributed unevenly across key demographic and socioeconomic groups. In 2005, white high school youths were twice as likely to work as black youths and 40 percent more likely than Hispanic youths. The need for a concerted set of public policy responses both short-term and long-term is needed.
A variety of favorable educational, social, and labor market outcomes can be generated from an expansion of in-school work opportunities for high school students, especially those from race-ethnic minority and low-income groups.
National research has shown that minority and low-income youths who work in high school are less likely to drop out than their peers who do not work. Students with jobs that offer work-based learning opportunities are more likely to see the relevance of school curriculum to future job performance and remain more committed to their school work.
Teenage women who live in local areas that provide more job opportunities to them are less likely to become pregnant, and male teens are less likely to become involved with the criminal justice system. National, state, and local research also consistently reveals that work in high school facilitates the transition to the labor market upon graduation and increases the annual earnings of youth in their late teens and early 20s.
There are a variety of workforce development strategies that can be pursued to boost employment opportunities for high school students during the regular school year and the summer.
First, the hiring of professional staff to work with students and employers to create work-based learning opportunities, paid internships, and regular job opportunities is important, especially for youth from low-income families and those whose parents do not work. Job brokering services of these career specialists also can broaden the range of jobs by industry and occupation to which high school students can be exposed.
At a minimum, maintaining last year's increased funding for the existing Connecting Activities Program at $7 million can help local Workforce Investment Boards increase the hiring of staff to work with students and employers to improve teen job prospects. The governor and Legislature should jointly support an increase in funding for such connecting activities and demand strong accountability for performance.
Second, employers who provide work-based learning opportunities and wages for students in school-to-career programs should receive tax credits for their hiring and training of high school students. Many employers provide important staff support and in-kind contributions to such programs and should be rewarded for their efforts.
Third, the governor should encourage all state agencies to promote the hiring of high school students during the summer months, and more of the state's mayors and town managers should follow the lead of Menino in promoting the hiring of their high school students by the private sector.
Fourth, the state should adopt a youth apprenticeship program similar to that of the state of Wisconsin's and more aggressively promote apprenticeship training under the existing system in our state. Young workers in Wisconsin can receive youth apprenticeship training in up to 21 occupational fields under the state's system, thereby providing employers with access to young skilled workers in a structured work/training system.
Massachusetts should aim to become a national leader in both the employment and training of its high school students and out-of-school youth. A more successful youth employment and training system can help promote the future growth and quality of our state's resident labor force and help stem high levels of out-migration.
William Spring is a retired vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Andrew Sum is director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. 
