California has nearly 500,000 young people ages 16 to 24 who are in the same predicament, neither working nor in school. Finding them a job is part of the solution, but it goes much deeper than that. Many are struggling socially and emotionally, too, making it even difficult to move forward.
Men are particularly at risk. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to address “the alarming rise in suicides and disconnection among California’s young men and boys.”
It’s a “crisis,” Newsom told former President Bill Clinton in an interview at the Clinton Global Initiative last month. “Look at the dropout rates. Look at the depths of despair. Look at the issues around loneliness. Look at every critical category. It’s just blinking red lights for young men.”
Newsom pointed to Charlie Kirk as a model for how to make young men feel heard and get them re-engaged politically, albeit for Trump. Then he slammed Democrats for ignoring these young men and their needs.
Of the roughly 4.6 million Californians between the ages of 16 and 24, more than 10% are considered disconnected, meaning they’re neither working nor in school, according to Kristen Lewis, the director of the research organization Measure of America. The majority are men, and Black and Native American men have higher rates.
The reasons so many young men drop out of school and work are varied. Economists point to rising automation or the loss of male-dominated manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Some of these men have disabilities or are struggling with addiction or mental health challenges. Many are incarcerated — California’s prisons are 96% male. Most of California’s homeless population is male too.
For Newsom, though, it’s not just about men’s role in the economy or education. In the executive order, he points to a slew of other disturbing statistics:
Nearly 1 in 4 men under the age of 30 say they have no close friends, a “five-fold increase since 1990” and “with higher rates of disconnection for Black males.”
Men are four times more likely than women to die by suicide — a disparity that has grown over the past few decades.
Men also have higher rates of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Regardless of the reason, the sole fact that he is neither working nor in school right now could have an impact on his future quality of life, even if he does find a job soon. Lewis, the Measure of America director, aimed to a longitudinal study of young people in similar situations.
It found they’re likely to make less money and have worse health outcomes by the time they reach their 30s. The longer a person is unemployed and out of school, she said, the greater the likelihood of long-term consequences.
