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6 Charts That Should Freak Out Every Single Young American

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CHARTS YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 28: An 'Occupy Wall Street' protester is chased from the new Barclays Center by police on opening night, which was to feature recording artist Jay-Z on September 28, 2012 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Dozens of protesters and curious onlookers converged on the new arena which caused debate and controversy when it was originally proposed nine years ago. The $1 billion arena will bring a professional sports team, the Brooklyn Nets, back to Brooklyn for the firs | Getty

America has a youth unemployment problem on its hands. Millions of 20-somethings can't find full-time work, according to the Center for American Progress. That could have long-term consequences: a six-month period of unemployment costs a person under 25 at least $45,000 in lost wages, the Center noted in a report released Wednesday.

This isn't just a young-adult problem; it hurts everyone else too. Youth unemployment is poised to cost the U.S. some $18 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis last month by Bloomberg Senior Economist Joseph Bruseulas.

So how did we get here? The Great Recession dealt a particularly harsh blow to young people as unemployment rose, and employers opted for the abundance of job-seekers with more experience. As a result, nearly half of the nation's unemployed are under 34 years old, according to an April report from Demos.

Here are six charts from the Center for American Progress that will freak out any young person looking for work:

The unemployment rate for Americans 16-to-24 years old is 16.2 percent, more than double the 7.5 jobless rate for all Americans.

youth unemployment 1

Millions of teens are out of work or underemployed.
youth unemployment 2

Nearly half of "disconnected" teens -- or those who aren't in school or working -- never graduated from high school.

youth unemployment 3

Millions of 20-somethings are out of work or underemployed.

youth unemployment 4

Most jobless 20-somethings have a high-school diploma or less.

youth unemployment 4

And even for those 20-somethings who did graduate college are struggling to find work and burdened by student loan debt.

youth unemployment 6

Also on HuffPost:

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9 Ways Americans Haven't Recovered
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  • Unemployment

    When the economy was roaring in 2007, the U.S. unemployment rate was 5 percent. In January 2013 the unemployment rate was 7.9 percent.

  • Income And Wages

    The U.S. median income fell to $50,054 in 2011, which is the most recent full year in which that data is available. That's down 8.1 percent since 2007. Wages also fell to a record-low 43.5 percent of the economy in 2012, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, corporate profits are still booming.

  • Number Of People On Food Stamps

    The number of Americans on food stamps surged to a record in 46 million in June 2012. That's compared to 26.5 million in 2007.

  • Uninsured Americans

    More than 16 percent of Americans -- or 48.6 million people -- were uninsured in 2011, according to Kaiser Health News. This number is higher than what it was in 2007, when the share of uninsured Americans was 15.3 percent.

  • Student Loan Debt

    The average student loan debt for a class of 2011 graduate was about $26,500, according to the Project on Student Debt data cited by the New York Times. Since 2007, when the average student debt was $23,349, student loan debt has increased for almost every demographic and the size of that debt has gone up as well, according to Pew.

  • Homelessness

    In 2011, 644,067 Americans experienced homelessness on any given night, according to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness cited by NBC News. Though that number is actually down 13 percent from 2007, the decrease is largely attributed to a boost in the number of programs to help keep the homeless off the streets.

  • Children In Poverty

    More than 16 million children -- or about 20 percent of American children -- were in poverty in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. That's up from nearly 18 percent of American children in 2007.

  • Homeownership

    We're on our way to becoming a renter nation. The homeownership rate in the 12 months leading up to May 2012 was 65.4 percent, according to Census Bureau data cited by CNNMoney. That's the lowest rate in 15 years. In the last quarter of 2007, the homeownership rate was 67.8 percent.

  • Foreclosures

    There were 2.7 million foreclosures in 2011. That's up from 2.2 million foreclosures in 2007.

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