Career and Employment
Youth commonly hold minimum wage jobs and because this wage has been stuck at USD 7.25 per hour in many states, there is not much economic mobility for them without higher education. The higher end of the mini - mum wage in states such as California, Washington, and Oregon is between USD 13.50 and USD 15.00/hour. For the Baby Boomer generation, it was more feasible to be able to live on the minimum wage, while it is not a livable wage for young people today. This shift has created a dynamic of misunderstanding between generations that has resulted in many political battles. Youth Unemployment Today, young Americans ages sixteen to twenty-four are experiencing unemployment rates that are at least twice the national average. As of February 2022, the youth un - employment rate was slightly over 8 %. Youth unemploy -
ment has been a persistent and growing problem in the United States for decades, reaching a more than fifty- year high in the wake of the Great Recession in 2007 and 2008. Youth are often unable to find full-time positions or opportunities that match their skills or draw on their formal job training or education. The U.S. employment system also struggles to integrate younger generations into the workforce with paid opportunities. Internships are common for youth, especially those pursuing un - dergraduate studies, which limits both the type of youth able to participate (higher income) and where students are able to intern (typically office, high skill). Earn and learn programs such as apprenticeships are not as readily available in the U.S. as they are in Europe. Additionally, many young people must take out student loans in order to attend college. This increases the finan - cial burden associated with attending college and trying
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