Some Alternative Definitions of Youth Unemployment: A Means for Improved Understanding and Policy Formulation

Abstract

Abstract. Current definitions of unemployment are inadequate for analyzing and understanding the problem of youth unemployment in the United States. By focusing on alternative definitions of youth unemployment, this study seeks to better understand the nature of the problem. Alternative rates of unemployment using data disaggregated by age, race, and gender from 1971 to 1983 are presented. Some findings: (1) all of the rates taken together provide a much better understanding of the youth unemployment problem; and (2) more effort should be devoted to developing, analyzing, and applying alternative concepts of satisfactory or unsatisfactory status for young people. Further, detailed studies of the activities, needs, and goals of a diverse population of young people and of societal preferences are clearly warranted. Without such efforts, youth unemployment policies will most likely be misdirected.