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Teenage Unemployment: What is the Problem?

In: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences

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  • Martin S. Feldstein
  • David T. Ellwood

Abstract

This nontechnical paper was prepared as a background study for the NBER Conference on Youth Joblessness and Employment. Our analysis of data collected in the March 1976 and October 1976 Current Population Surveys leads us to the following conclusions: Unemployment is not a serious problem for the vast majority of teenage boys. Less than 5 percent of teenage boys are out of school, unemployed and looking for full-time work. Many out of school teenagers are neither working nor looking for work and most of these report no desire to work. Virtually all teenagers who are out of work live at hone. Among those who do seek work, unemployment spells tend to be quite short; over half end within one month when these boys find work or stop looking for work. Nevertheless, much of the total amount of unemployment is the result of quite long spells among a small portion of those who experience unemployment during the year. Although nonwhites have considerably higher unemployment rates than whites, the overwhelming majority of the teenage unemployed are white. Approximately half of the difference between the unemployment rates of whites and blacks can be accounted for by demographic and economic differences. There is a small group of teenagers with relatively little schooling for whom unemployment does seen to be a serious and persistent problem. This group suffers most of the teenage unemployment. Although their unemployment rate improves markedly as they move into their twenties, it remains very high relative to the unemp1oynent rate of better educated and more able young men.
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Suggested Citation

  • Martin S. Feldstein & David T. Ellwood, 1982. "Teenage Unemployment: What is the Problem?," NBER Chapters, in: The Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, pages 17-35, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:7870
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    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Kai & Salvanes, Kjell G. & Sørensen, Erik Ø., 2016. "Good skills in bad times: Cyclical skill mismatch and the long-term effects of graduating in a recession," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 3-17.
    2. Akram Sh. Alawad & Fuad Kreishan & Mohammad Selim, 2020. "Determinants of Youth Unemployment: Evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 152-165.
    3. Jorge A. Paz, 2012. "Desempleo juvenil en la Argentina durante la recuperación económica," Working Papers 9, Instituto de Estudios Laborales y del Desarrollo Económico (IELDE) - Universidad Nacional de Salta - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Jurídicas y Sociales.
    4. Magnus Gustavsson & Pär Österholm, 2007. "Does Unemployment Hysteresis Equal Employment Hysteresis?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(261), pages 159-173, June.
    5. Larry D. Singell & Jane H. Lillydahl, 1989. "Some Alternative Definitions of Youth Unemployment: A Means for Improved Understanding and Policy Formulation," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 457-472, October.
    6. Gustman, Alan L & Steinmeier, Thomas L, 1988. "A Model for Analyzing Youth Labor Market Policies," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 376-396, July.
    7. Ana Belen Tulcanaza-Prieto & Paúl Alejandro Báez Salazar & Iliana E. Aguilar-Rodríguez, 2023. "Determinants of Youth Unemployment in Ecuador in 2019," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, February.
    8. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:921-999 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Fernando Coloma & Bernardita Vial, 2003. "Desempleo e Inactividad Juvenil en Chile," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 40(119), pages 149-171.

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