by Tamika Butler
It’s that time of year again. I get to fly home to Omaha, Nebraska and partake in one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. From mac and cheese to stuffing to honey glazed ham… I can’t get enough food. After food, there’s football. After football? More food!
Oh and of course, I love seeing my family.
Living in LA means I don’t get home as much as I like. Work keeps me busy (and I can’t say I want to rush from the LA sun to get to the Midwest chill). When we aren’t talking about football or food, everyone in my family wants to talk about how my job is going. I used to be a lawyer, but now that I’ve left that behind to work with Young Invincibles people are a little confused about exactly what I do. Though we work on a number of economic issues here at YI, I always get the most questions about what we’re doing to get young people employed.
As I hear the stories of family and friends looking for jobs, I’m always reminded about how important our jobs work is and how thankful I am to have a job. In particular, I know how important our work is for the African American community—and yes, there is a thriving black community in Omaha, Nebraska (I know you were thinking it).
Sure, unemployment is dropping across the board, but for the black community, it’s still higher than the rest of the population. When the last numbers were released at the beginning of the month, the overall youth unemployment rate for 18 to 29 year-olds sunk to 10.9 percent. Compare that to the African American youth unemployment rate, which fell to 19.6 percent in October. For younger black workers, ages 16 to 24, the unemployment rate also went down to 25.0 percent from 25.3 percent in September.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about the drop. But for young, black folks in this country trying to find a job, the struggle is real! These black folks look like me, are my friends, are my family, and could very well be me.
In particular, our black young men carry the heaviest burden with a 29.6 percent unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year-olds—the highest rate of unemployment in the United States. The unemployment rate for young black women is 20.9 percent.
The reality is, over the last year, the unemployment rate for black young adults has been higher than for the rest of the population—2.5 times higher than the nation’s overall unemployment rate. The black youth unemployment rate for 18 to 29 year-olds has actually gotten worse in the last year, from 19.2 percent in October 2012 to 19.6 percent at the time of the last release on November 8th (not seasonally adjusted).
So on this Thanksgiving, as you watch mediocre football and eat great food, remember that there are young adults (especially young black adults) out there just trying to make it, looking for work, and wondering what to do. That young person may be you or someone you know.
I know I’m thankful to work at an organization that’s doing our part to decrease the number of unemployed young adults. Here at Young Invincibles, we’re doing everything we can to ensure that all young adults have access to the training and jobs they need to succeed. We just finished up a great National Jobs Tour where we highlighted phenomenal job training programs. We have an upcoming report on the cost of young adult unemployment, and are continually working on policies to change this bleak outlook for young adults. In particular, we know that we need to do more for communities of color, and we are up for the challenge.
What are the biggest challenges around jobs that you face? What about your friends and other members of your community? Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter and let us know. As we continue to plan our next jobs campaign, we’d love to hear what you think.