Thanks, Obama: Stimulus creates 12,000 teen jobs in Tennessee

[doeriver]

Stimulus creates 12,000 teen jobs
$25 million in funds bring a temporary boost
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090727/NEWS01/907270345/-1/NLETTER01?source=nletter-news
By Clay Carey • THE TENNESSEAN • July 27, 2009



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Her temporary job was one of thousands created for young, unemployed people through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

By the end of the summer, the state will have used almost $25 million in stimulus dollars to put more than 12,000 young people to work for the government, private businesses and nonprofit organizations across Tennessee.

The employment boost comes at a time when many people, regardless of their age, are struggling to find work.

The state unemployment rate in June was 10.8 percent. But the unemployment rate for teens right now is more than 30 percent. Tennessee's teen unemployment rate is the second-highest in the country, according to the Employment Policy Institute, a nonprofit policy group that focuses on entry-level employment issues.

Today's job market, coupled with an increase in the federal minimum wage, makes for a high level of competition for summer work, said Kristen Eastlick, a senior economic analyst with the institute.

"The individuals who are at the back of that line are teens, folks who don't have any work experience," Eastlick said.

Frazier said she spent most of her pay on things like clothes. Other teens, like Theron Boyd, put most of their wages toward household bills.

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Target Kids 'In Dire Need'

Stimulus money for the teen job program was available to states through June 2011, meaning states could have spread the program out over several years if they wanted.

Tennessee decided not to go that route; by the end of the summer, the state will have spent 95 percent of its share.

"During this time when unemployment rates are as high as they are, we wanted to serve as many teens as possible," said Susan Cowden, administrator of workforce development for the state. "Some of these kids in low-income households, they are in dire need."

Ellen Zinkiewicz, director of youth and community service with the Nashville Career Advancement Center, oversees the program in one of 13 districts set up across the state.

In her area, which includes Davidson, Wilson, Rutherford and Trousdale counties, 1,119 young people have been put to work through the stimulus.

Some are using their earnings — which range from $7.25 to $8 an hour — for spending money, she said. Others are chipping in on household bills or saving for cars or college.

Many of them would have otherwise struggled to find jobs. Employers like the Nashville Zoo, once hot spots for seasonal work for teens, have been mobbed by jobless adults looking for what Zinkiewicz calls survival jobs — temporary employment that will get them through hard times.

The teen job program was open only to young people from low-income families, or teens who had learning disabilities or health issues that limited their job options.

Those young people often have the hardest time finding their first jobs, Zinkiewicz said. Kids who are working during the summer often tend to be from middle- or upper-class families who have better connections.

"A kid from a family that doesn't have employment networks, that is the kind of kid that is most likely to be unemployed," she said. Such teens are also less likely to be able to afford summer camps or trips to visit colleges.

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