The importance of engaging teens and young adults in education and employment opportunities is well documented and cannot be overstated, yet a significant number of 16-24-year-olds in California are disconnected from both. The short- and long-term consequences that stem from youth disconnection are varied – ranging from significant personal and social challenges to considerable losses in social capital and economic
opportunities. Much of the progress made following the Great Recession has since been erased by the COVID-19 pandemic as documented by a recent Measure of America report, “A Decade Undone.”

The purpose of this brief report is to provide a high-level overview of California’s disconnected, or “Opportunity Youth” population. According to the most recent data available, there were approximately 4.7 million teens and young adults, ages 16-24, living in California in 2020, and over half a million of them (11.3% disconnection rate)
were neither in school nor at work. Not surprisingly, many of these individuals lived in one of the larger cities in the state. The data also revealed that Hispanic, Black, and Native American youth were disconnected at significantly higher rates than their Asian and White counterparts. Furthermore, disconnection may look different for teens (16-19) than it does for young adults (20-24). Whereas high school is likely to be the teens’ primary activity until graduation, many young adults in their early twenties are in a different phase of their lives and may engage in a broader array of activities. Teens were far more likely to be unemployed or not in the labor force, relative to their young adult counterparts. And young adults were far more likely to be out of school, relative to their teen counterparts. Importantly though, as of 2020, 13% of teens were not in school and 28% of young adults were out of the labor force altogether.

Our objective in publishing the most recent data available on California’s Opportunity Youth population is to draw attention to a problem that requires immediate action, and to create collaborative recommendations for state and local policy. In this way, we hope that the information presented here not only sparks dialog around our disconnected youth population, but also underscores the importance of taking measures to help as many individuals as possible as soon as possible. The over half-million young adults in California who are not connected to education or employment – two core drivers of future success, deserve no less.

Read the report below.

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