Great Cities Institute Releases New Youth Jobless Report

GCI Releases New Youth Jobless Report

 

As part of its continued commitment to providing the latest available research and data on the youth employment situation in Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois, Great Cities Institute just released a new data brief, “Uneven Recovery and Sustained Inequality after the COVID-19 Recession: Employment for Chicago’s Youth and Young Adults.” This data brief, commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network, examines youth employment recovery after the COVID-19 recession. The brief examines jobless rates (the percentage of individuals who were unemployed and individuals not in the labor force) and out-of-school-and-jobless rates for 16-to-19-year-olds and 20-to-24-year-olds in Chicago, Illinois, and the U.S. by race/ethnicity and sex; and explores spatial concentrations within areas of Cook County to spatial inequalities.

 

The main findings of the research include:

 

Chicago’s joblessness rates were significantly higher than those in Illinois and the U.S. in 2022.

      • White jobless rate in Chicago of 76.2% being 16.3 percentage points higher than in the U.S.,
      • Black jobless rate of 86.4% being 16.3 percentage points higher than in the U.S., and the
      • Hispanic or Latino jobless rate of 72.9% being 5.7 percentage points higher than in the U.S.

Jobless rates for Black 20- to 24-year-olds in Chicago had a substantial decrease from 2021 to 2022 decreasing from 57.4% to 40.4%.

      • There was a 17.4 percentage point decrease in the jobless rate between 2021 to 2022 for Black 20- to 24-year-olds in Chicago, decreasing from 57.4% to 40.4%.

There were 11,559 out-of-school and jobless 16- to 19-year-olds in Chicago in 2022.

      • This figure is only slightly less than during the 2020 peak due to the pandemic-induced recession when the figure was 12,342.
      • The out-of-school and jobless rate for Black 16- to 19-year-olds in Chicago increased from 9.4% to 17.5% from 2021 to 2022 while the number more than doubled from 3,197 to 6,527.

There were 33,759 out-of-school and jobless 20- to 24-year-olds in Chicago in 2022.

      • This figure is about 7,000 lower than in 2020 when the number peaked due to the pandemic-induced recession.
      • However, while the out-of-school and jobless rate decreased for Black 20- to 24-year-olds in Chicago by 9.6 percentage points between 2021 and 2022, large gaps remain between racial/ethnic groups.

Substantial inequalities exist in jobless and out-of-school rates in Cook County for 20- to 24-year-olds in 2022, ranging from 1.5 to 48.3%.

      • The PUMA including Austin, North Lawndale, East Garfield Park, and West Garfield Park had the highest out-of-school and jobless rate for 20- to 24-year-olds in Cook County of 48.3% and the PUMA including Chicago Lawn, West Englewood, East Englewood, and Greater Grand Crossing had a similar rate of 43.8%.

 

The data brief underscores the persistent inequalities in employment recovery post-COVID-19 among Chicago’s youth. Black and Latino youth face particularly high joblessness and out-of-school-and-jobless rates, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to promote equitable employment opportunities. Summer youth employment programs have proven to reduce crime, enhance job readiness, and foster a sense of community. By implementing targeted programs and investing in youth development, Chicago can foster a more equitable future, ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to thrive and succeed in the post-pandemic economy.

 

The Benefits of Expanding Health Coverage for Immigrants in Illinois

The Benefits of Expanding Health Coverage for Immigrants in Illinois

 

On April 26, 2024, a symposium was hosted by the Healthy Illinois Campaign that brought together immigrant rights advocates, health policy experts, and community leaders to discuss health coverage for immigrants in Illinois. At the event, Great Cities Institute released and presented findings from a research brief titled, “The Benefits of Health Coverage for Immigrants in Illinois.” The research brief was commissioned by the Healthy Illinois Campaign and highlights the importance and impact of state-run healthcare programs that benefit noncitizens, demonstrating the diverse economic and health benefits, as well as the financial hardships faced. 

The event featured speakers who emphasized the need for fully funding health care programs for noncitizens, particularly, the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS) and Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA) in Illinois. These programs provide essential health coverage to low-income noncitizens who do not qualify for Medicaid due to their immigration status. The attendees discussed the programs’ successes, ongoing challenges, and the critical need for legislative support to ensure sustainability. 

 

Below are key findings from the GCI research brief:

 

1. Program Costs:

    • In fiscal year 2023, the combined cost of HBIA and HBIS was $621 million, representing 1.8 percent of the state’s total budget.
    • Put in the context of the entire state budget, HBIA and HBIS accounted for only 0.6 percent of the total budget.

2. Economic Contributions:

    • Health coverage improves labor force participation, expanding the tax base and reducing the need for further financial assistance.

3. Health and Financial Benefits:

    • Access to health coverage reduces financial strain and medical debt for uninsured noncitizens.
    • Insuring noncitizens improves their children’s developmental outcomes in terms of their socioemotional development and educational attainment.

4. Preventive Care and Cost Reduction:

    • Health coverage leads to increases in early disease detection, reducing long-term medical costs.
    • Access to medical coverage improves health outcomes and leads to increases of routine checkups and preventive care.

 

Tovia Siegel, the Director of the Healthy Illinois campaign, called for continued support and full funding for these vital programs. “We recognize the real fiscal challenges facing the state but urge both the General Assembly and the governor to pass an FY25 budget that fully funds the existing HBIA and HBIS programs as they currently exist in statute, with no caps and no co-pays,” Siegel stated.

The event and accompanying research brief highlight the ongoing debate over noncitizen health care in Illinois. Advocates stress that providing comprehensive health coverage to noncitizens is not just a matter of health equity but also an investment in the state’s economic and social well-being. As lawmakers deliberate future budgets, the findings of the research brief underscore the importance of maintaining and expanding these critical health programs.

 

Uneven Recovery and Sustained Inequality after the COVID-19 Recession

Executive Summary:

In an April 2023 report from the Great Cities Institute (GCI) on youth employment after the COVID-19 recession of 2020, we found that:

    • Recovery in employment levels were uneven amongst youth and young adults in Chicago,
    • Recovery in Chicago was lagging behind Illinois and the U.S., and
    • Black and Latino youth and young adults experienced uneven and in some cases no recovery towards pre-pandemic employment levels of joblessness and out-of-school and jobless rates (Wilson and Patterson 2023).

Knowing that recovery was uneven amongst racial/ethnic groups, slower in Chicago, and with an additional year of data available, we seek to answer what inequalities persist in joblessness and out-of-school and jobless rates, and if new disparities have emerged.

This data brief examines jobless rates (the percent of individuals that were unemployed and individuals not in the labor force), and out-of-school-and-jobless rates for 16- to 19- and 20- to 24 year-olds in Chicago, Illinois, and the U.S. by race/ethnicity and sex. Additionally, we examine sub-sections of Cook County with 2022 data to examine the extent to which spatial concentrations exist.

 

Media Coverage:

 

Authors:

Matthew D. Wilson, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Economic & Workforce Development, UIC Great Cities Institute.

Samantha Sepulveda
Research Assistant, UIC Great Cities Institute.

 

 

Read and Download the Full Report Here.

 

The Ben Joravsky Show: Graciela Guzman – Try Some Compassion

On the Ben Joravsky Show, Graciela Guzman speaking on the health benefits for immigrants, based on the report conducted by the UIC’s Great Cities Institute and commissioned by the Healthy Illinois Campaign.

 

From The Ben Joravsky Show (To go to the actual article, please click on this link.)

 

Report recommends investment in youth employment.

A report by the University of Illinois-Chicago Great Cities Institute says that Black teens in Chicago are experiencing much higher jobless rates than other young people in Illinois.

Lead researcher Matt Wilson said Black teens in Chicago have been disconnected from work and school at twice the rate they were in 2021.

“So we have this huge jump where there’s an additional over 16,000 Black 16-to-19-year-olds that are not working and not in school,” Wilson said.

The report indicated that not all communities have recovered from pandemic-related shutdowns at the same rate. The Chicago Public Schools system returned to in-person learning much later than other schools in the area.

“Those individuals … the probability of them seeping through the cracks is going to be very high,” Wilson said.

 

From The Center Square (To go to the actual article, please click on this link.)

 

Chicago youth joblessness rates outpacing national average.

Black Chicago teenagers are experiencing higher jobless rates and slower recovery from the pandemic, a new study reports.

Why it matters: The youth employment study paints a bleak picture of Chicago’s inequalities.

    • Not having jobs can turn kids to other pursuits, including gang activities and street violence.

By the numbers: The report, written by University of Illinois Chicago Great Cities Institute and commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network, shows that the city’s jobless rate for Black teens is worse than the national average.

    • In 2022, the jobless rate for Black 16- to 19-year-olds living in Chicago was 86% — more than 16% higher than the national average for that same demographic.
    • To compare, white Chicago teens had a jobless rate of 76%, which is 16% higher than the national average for white teens.
    • The rate in some Black neighborhoods was as high as 92%.

Stunning stat: The jobless rate gap between teens on the city’s South and West sides, which are predominantly Black neighborhoods, and teens in suburbs like Schaumburg was stark, up to a 40% difference.

 

From AXIOS Chicago (To go to the actual article, please click on this link.)

 

In some Chicago neighborhoods, nearly half of the youths aren’t in school or work.

The portion of young Chicagoans neither going to school nor working is returning to pre-COVID levels — but it’s an uneven recovery that has left behind Black teens as well as adolescents in the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Overall, about 45,000 16- to 24-year-olds in the city are disconnected from both school and work, accounting for roughly 12% of the city’s residents in that age group — a rate just slightly higher than pre-COVID.

“In the aftermath of the pandemic when things looked really shaky, these overall numbers are very encouraging,” said Matthew Wilson, associate director at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute and one of the authors of a new study on youth disconnection. That was until researchers zeroed in on Black teens, he added: “When I saw these numbers, I thought, ‘Wait a minute.’”

 

From Chalkbeat Chicago (To go to the actual article, please click on this link.)