CBO Youth Demographics

Breitbart reports youth employment and incarceration data compiled by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office or CBO. The news is bad, but also quite uneven.

Out of the 38 million young men in the U.S. in 2014, 16 percent were jobless (5 million or 13 percent) or incarcerated (1 million or 3 percent). The share of young men without a job or in prison has increased substantially since 1980, when just 11 percent of young men fit into either category.

The level of joblessness and incarceration varies based on young men’s educational attainment. The less they have, the more likely they are to be jobless or incarcerated.

The rates also varied among racial and ethnic groups. In 2014 young black men were about twice as likely to be jobless or incarcerated than white or Hispanic young men were. The disparity was largely due, however, to higher rates of incarceration among young black men.

Interestingly, while young men dropped out of the workforce, the share of young women who were jobless or incarcerated declined from 31 percent in 1980 to 22 percent in 2014.  

The problem has gotten worse on President Obama's watch. He shares the blame.