Opportunity Youth: Disenfranchised Young People

Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School
both parents with some education beyond high school, compared to about 48% of their connected
counterparts.
Figure 9. Educational Attainment of Disconnected and Connected Youths’ Parents,
for Youth Ages 16-24 Living with One or Both Parents, 2014
Source: Congressional Research Service based on analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2014 Current
Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC).
Notes: Disconnected youth are youth who were not working or in school at the time of the survey and were
reported as having not worked during the previous year for reasons other than going to school.
The employment status of parents was also evaluated. Figure 10 shows employment status
among parents of disconnected and connected youth by household type. Among youth living in
single-parent households, disconnected youth were more likely to have parents who were not
employed (49.7%) at the time of the survey than connected youth (25.6%). Among youth living in
dual-parent households, the divide was even greater: for 16.1% of disconnected youth, both
parents were not employed at the time of the survey, compared to 5.3% of connected youth.
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