The State of Youth Employment: Navigating the World of Work During COVID-19
How are young people navigating the world of work during this challenging time? How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped young people’s work experiences? How are racism and discrimination affecting young people’s professional lives?
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, youth unemployment has spiked, widening the longstanding employment gap between young people and the rest of the working population. To better understand young people’s experiences navigating these challenges, the Center for Promise at America’s Promise Alliance surveyed more than 3,500 people aged 16-24 in the YES Project about their professional journeys over the past year.
The findings are grim, but critically important to consider as the nation contemplates strategies for economic recovery:
- Young people in America are struggling. They are financially strained, emotionally drained, and facing significant barriers to employment.
- COVID-19 and the related economic recession have disrupted young people’s work lives in myriad ways and prompted extraordinary levels of concern about the future.
- Young people encounter pervasive race- and gender-based discrimination in the world of work.
- The professional connections and supportive relationships that can help young people advance their work-related goals are out of reach for most youth.
- Young people’s hope about their future work lives is in jeopardy.
The young people surveyed for this study provide a glimpse into the devastating impact the pandemic has had on their efforts to access work, gain a foothold on a career path, and fulfill both personal and professional goals. What’s more, the findings point us once again toward the ways that systemic racism, sexism, and other intersectional barriers constrain young people’s hopes.
The report includes specific suggestions for action that can address long-standing systemic issues, mitigate the disparities that have widened over the last year, and seize this crucial moment of change.
More on the study: https://www.americaspromise.org/campaign/every-school-healthy
New Research Examines Social Giving During a Time of Social Distancing
OneCause, Inc. released a new research study focused on the evolution of social giving experiences over the past 12 months. There’s a lot of timely data around returning to in-person events, but also some more long-term trends with increasing accessibility to philanthropy with younger, more diverse donors.
The study is based on an April 2021 survey of 1,026 social donors (those who give through events and peer-to-peer fundraising) including:
- what motivates their giving,
- when and how they will be comfortable returning to in-person events,
- best practices for improving ease and engagement, and
- what influences repeat donations.
More on the study: https://www.onecause.com/blog/infographic/the-giving-experience/.
The full report is also available for free to download at: https://www.onecause.com/ebook/the-giving-experience-study/.
Giving USA 2021: In A Year of Unprecedented Events and Challenges, Charitable Giving Reached a Record $471.44 Billion in 2020
Giving USA published its annual report on philanthropy for 2021 – While a strong year-end stock market and giving in response to COVID-19 and racial justice efforts drove growth in contributions, a tumultuous year created an uneven picture. Total charitable giving grew 5.1% measured in current dollars over the revised total of $448.66 billion contributed in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, total giving increased 3.8%.
More on the study: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ety2hrvs4ntr2me/AABh9_-Bb9WjyIBYE5WGwS4Va?dl=0
The data tables, key findings, numbers overview, and infographic are available by request.
Add Your Voice
The research summaries above are by no means an exhaustive list of the newest information out there to help us better understand the nonprofit landscape. Did we miss a report you think we should know about and share? Let us know by leaving a comment!
