Youth Are More At Financial Risk, Study Shows

With 12.6% of young Americans neither working nor in school, exposing them to greater risk of poverty and violence, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2022’s States with the Most At-Risk Youth.

To determine where young Americans are not faring as well as others in their age group, especially in a year made extremely stressful by inflation and the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key indicators of youth risk. The data set ranges from the share of disconnected youth to the labor force participation rate among youth to the youth poverty rate.

At-Risk Youth in New York (1=Most at Risk; 25=Avg.):

• 26^th – % of Disconnected Youth
• 36^th – % of Youth Without a High School Diploma
• 31^st – % of Overweight & Obese Youth
• 22^nd – % of Youth Drug Users
• 11^th – Youth Labor Force Participation Rate
• 34^th – Youth Poverty Rate
• 8^th – % of Homeless Youth
• 45^th – Share of Population Aged 12 and Older Fully Vaccinated

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-most-at-risk-youth/37280

“Parents can engage in multiple activities to support and encourage their children to complete school and find meaningful employment,” says Michael Krezmien, Ph.D. – Director, Center for Youth Engagement; Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst. “First, parents can advocate for their schools to provide innovative and engaging after-school and summer educational programs that provide their children with meaningful experiences beyond those they receive in their typical classes. Second, parents can identify a range of summer programs that focus on learning in multiple domains. These can include art intensive programs, STEM-focused programs, and tech programs. Many of these programs include transportation. Many programs also provide scholarships and assistance for families without the means to send their children to these programs.”

“When students are working and going to school, achieving balance is important,” concluded Johanna Slivinske, MSW, LISW-S – Clinical Social Worker, Mental Health and Counseling Services; Part-time Faculty of Social Work, Kent State University.