Expanding Economic Opportunity for Young Men and Boys of Color through Employment and Training

Shayne Spaulding, Robert I. Lerman, Harry J. Holzer, and Lauren Eyster February 2015 The experience of young men of color with obtaining employment and quality jobs has been negatively influenced by many factors, including persistent discrimination, the hiring practices of employers, geographic and social isolation, substandard secondary education, lack of career and postsecondary educational guidance, inadequate career and technical education, and higher incarceration rates. As a result, young men of color have long suffered from lower earnings and higher unemployment rates than young white men. In the early 1980s, 20- to 24-year-old African American men endured 30 percent unemployment rates, compared with 14 percent for young non-Hispanic white men. While unemployment rates for these groups of young men dropped to 18 and 7 percent in the late 1990s, employment and real earnings of black and Hispanic young men have declined since 2000.1 These worsening outcomes stem from both the general weakening of the economy and structural shifts in the labor market. At the same time, the skills beyond the high school level demanded and rewarded by employers have increased, while the supply of these skills among most low-income men of color has lagged relative to non-Hispanic white men. What can be done to turn around these dismal outcomes? A broad solution set is needed, involving multiple institutions in all sectors—government, public institutions, nonprofits, education, and business—and interventions that are targeted at every age and across the economic spectrum. This paper focuses on strategies that show promise for improving the labor market outcomes of low-income young men of color, in particular. It does not address the issue of economic disparities for men of color who are older or for those who are not low-income. While a multitude of factors are linked to economic opportunities—such as health, early childhood and elementary school education, criminal justice policies and practices, and community environments—other papers in this series discuss these issues as they relate to improving life outcomes for boys and young men of color. RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER Expanding Economic Opportunity for Young Men and Boys of Color through Employment and Training This paper outlines the elements of an employment-focused approach to improving the economic opportunities and outcomes for low-income boys and young men of color, highlighting potential policy, system, and institutional reforms as well as program investments. Making more than just a dent in the problems facing low-income young men of color requires initiatives that are aimed at enhancing skills of individuals but also systemic reforms that reduce persistent discrimination in hiring and that make secondary, postsecondary, and other institutions more responsive to the labor market and the populations they serve. Such efforts must be directed at not only increasing employment but also raising the quality of jobs, particularly in today’s context in which too many men of color are earning low wages. Improving their job outcomes is critical for both the current generation of young men and the stability of the families they form. In turn, healthy relationships and marriage can positively affect the earnings of men of color (Ahituv and Lerman 2007, 2011). Successful programs and models should be expanded to reach a critical mass of low-income young men of color. Sufficient scale and coordination among all levels of government, the charitable and business sectors, and education and training systems are needed to change the policies and systems that have failed too large a portion of young men of color to date. Among the programs ripe for expan-sion are models that (1) improve academic, occupational, and basic employability skills in high school; ( 2) increase access to college and credential attainment; and (3) facilitate transitions to the labor market. Promising strategies that lack solid evidence of effectiveness should be subject to serious evaluations. Individual programs can help a modest number of people, but they alone cannot address the social and systemic issues. Transforming the economic opportunities and life outcomes for young men of color requires a comprehensive approach involving public policies and systems, skills learned at school and at work, employer practices and perceptions, and the social interactions between schools, intermediaries, and employers. To date, few have successfully taken on this challenge. The paper begins by briefly exploring the problem, then discusses promising reforms and programs that focus on changing the structure of education and preparing young men for and helping them access job opportunities that will lead to productive careers. The examples provided throughout are not exhaustive, but they illustrate the kinds of solutions that have been pursued and may be worth further expansion and investment. Further detail on