Young and “Disconnected” in America

About one in seven people ages 18 to 24 in the United States are disconnected, meaning they are not engaging in school, training, or work. That’s according to a new RAND paper that explores what the evidence says—and doesn’t say—about this phenomenon.

Disconnection has enormous costs for individuals and for society. In the short term, disconnected youth earn about $12,000 less per year than their peers. And over the long term, they are unlikely to be on a path toward economic prosperity.

Who is disconnected? Here are some of the takeaways:

• Overall, young men are more likely to be disconnected than young women.
• But other factors—such as family status, race/ethnicity, and disability status—generally are more important than sex in explaining rates of disconnection.
• Community factors are also important. For example, rates are higher in areas where fewer adult men are employed.
• Young veterans, especially female veterans, have high rates of disconnection.
• Most disconnected youth have at least a high school degree. This suggests that education alone isn’t enough to protect young people from disconnection.

So, what might help disconnected youth secure a brighter future? There is no one-size-fits-all solution, the authors write. Addressing this issue will likely require multiple carefully designed policies and programs.