D.C. teen unemployment rate skyrocketing
By: Hayley Peterson
Examiner Staff
July 8, 2009
D.C. teens have the highest unemployment rate in the region, and with minimum wage set to rise at the end of the month, area youths will find it even harder to get hired, according to a new study.
"Research suggests students that have access to job opportunities may stay off drugs longer, not get pregnant [and] not go into a criminal element," said Kristen Lopez Eastlick, senior research analyst for the institute.
Teen unemployment in the District reached 23 percent at the end of June -- which is a 12 percent increase since May and almost 2.5 times the national unemployment rate, according to the study from the District's Employment Policies Institute.
Since last July, the rate for D.C. teens increased more than 50 percent, the institute said.
"D.C. teens' unemployment numbers have been really high," Eastlick said. She attributed this to the District's minimum wage rate being $1 higher than the federal rate.
"These teen workers [in D.C.] are competing with more experienced workers for fewer jobs," she said.
The study shows:
- In Virginia, the teen unemployment rate is 19 percent. Eastlick said Virginia's teens were better off because the state "has tended to stay with the federal rate" for minimum wage.
- Maryland nearly rivals D.C. with 22 percent of teenagers unemployed. Like D.C., Maryland's minimum wage is higher than the federal rate.
On July 24, the federal rate will rise 80 cents to $7.25 per hour. This could squeeze even more teens out of the eligible work force, the study contends.
Such an early period of unemployment can haunt young job-seekers for years to come, Eastlick said.
"Not having a job today means that some kids don't quite catch up to their counterparts who were employed -- as many as 10 years later," she said.
And more idle teens in the District this summer could lead to more juvenile crimes. Juvenile arrests have increased over the past year, said Brenda Eich, director of research and analysis for D.C. police.
The city's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services would not comment for this story.
Eastlick said youth summer employment programs like Mayor Adrian Fenty's were "bound by minimum wage laws." Increasing the minimum wage rate decreases funds available to provide students jobs, she said.
