The Idled Young Americans

young americansThe European economy has deteriorated over the last two years, and the American economy has strengthened modestly. But the job growth here has been fast enough merely to keep pace with population growth, which suggests that this country still lags in the employment of young adults. In 2000, by contrast, the United States led Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Japan — as well as Australia, Russia and Sweden — in such employment rates. The nation now trails them all. Older American workers have also lost relative ground, but not as much.       

As Mr. Katz, Mr. Moffitt and others note, an explanation of the root causes remains elusive. But there are obvious suspects, and each probably plays a role.       

The United States, for example, has lost its once-large lead in producing college graduates, and education remains the most successful jobs strategy in a globalized, technology-heavy economy. It is no accident that the most educated places in the country, like Boston, Minneapolis, Washington and Austin, Tex., have high employment rates while the least educated, including many in the South and inland California, have low ones. The official unemployment rate for 25- to 34-year-old college graduates remains just 3.3 percent.       

Beyond education, the nation has also been less aggressive than some others in using counseling and retraining to help the jobless find work. To take one small example, a recent study in France by the renowned M.I.T. economist Esther Duflo and four colleagues found that placement programs for unemployed workers helped not only the workers but the economy too. The counseled workers were more likely to find work, and they did not simply take jobs from other candidates. Overall employment rose more quickly in the regions with job counseling.       

Other research notes that the United States has expanded parental leave and part-time work less than other countries — and, perhaps relatedly, employment rates among women here have slipped.       

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