About 32,000 New Mexicans between the ages of 16 and 24 don’t work or go to school, according to a new Legislative Finance Committee report, which found these young people are more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system, make less money in their careers and experience worse health outcomes than their peers.
The report released Monday, “Reconnecting Disconnected Youth,” found that young people who don’t work or go to school cost New Mexico taxpayers approximately $623 million annually, primarily through lost tax revenue. By the time they reach their 30s, adults who didn’t go to school or work in their teens and early 20s typically earn $38,4000 less per year, are 45% less likely to own a house and are 42% less likely to be employed, the report found.
More than half of these “disconnected youth” reside in Bernalillo, Doña Ana, San Juan and McKinley counties, according to the report. Surveyed youth listed housing instability, a lack of skills or training, health conditions and disabilities, low wages and obligations to care for family members as the top five reasons why they were not actively seeking employment.
Connecting just 10% of these young people to an education or a job would bring New Mexico in line with the national average, LFC program evaluator Josh Chaffin told lawmakers at a Monday presentation.
“These 32,000 young people represent a meaningful share of the state’s workforce gap,” he said.
The report gave lawmakers recommendations to reach a goal of connecting 10% of these affected young people over the course of three years. It recommended that lawmakers require the state Public Education Department to create a program to refer students who drop out to support programs; have the state Workforce Solutions Department create target goals for enrolling out-of-school youth in programs; and track employment, education and earnings outcomes among young people in support programs.
The report also recommended that the governor’s office create a cross-agency body tasked with tracking outcomes for disconnected youth who go through these programs.
Some lawmakers said the report could be “overcomplicating” the issue of keeping kids in school.
“Give the kid a reason to come to school,” state Rep. Brian Baca (R-Los Lunas) said at the hearing. “Many kids are disconnected because they have not had a win in school for years … if you’re an artist, let’s fund these arts programs.”
Reader Comments