Immigration and the Long-Term Decline in Employment Among U.S.-Born Teenagers

The share of U.S.-born teenagers (16 to 19) in the labor force — working or looking for work — during the summer has been declining for more than a decade, long before the current recession. In 1994, nearly two-thirds of U.S.-born teenagers were in the summer labor force; by 2007 it was less than half. At the same time, the overall number of immigrants (legal and illegal) holding a job doubled. The evidence indicates that immigration accounts for a significant share of the decline in teen labor force participation. The decline in teen work is worrisome because research shows that those who do not hold jobs as teenagers often fail to develop the work habits necessary to function in the labor market, creating significant negative consequences for them later in life.

•The summer of 2009 was the worst summer ever experienced by U.S.-born teenagers (16-19) since citizenship data was first collected in 1994. Just 45 percent were in the labor force, which means they worked or were looking for work. Only one-third actually held a job.

•Even before the current recession, the summer labor force participation of U.S.-born teenagers was deteriorating. Between the summers of 1994 and 2000, a period of significant economic expansion, the labor force participation of U.S.-born teens actually declined from 64 percent to 61 percent.

•After 2000, the summer labor force participation of U.S.-born teenagers declined from 61 percent to 48 percent by 2007. Thus even before the current recession fewer teens were in the labor force.

•Teen unemployment — the share looking for a job — has also tended to rise somewhat over time. But the big decline has been in the share of teenagers who are looking for work.

•The number of U.S.-born teenagers not in the labor force increased from 4.7 million in 1994 to 8.1 million in 2007. In the summer of 2009 it stood at 8.8 million.

•The severity of the decline is similar for U.S.-born black, Hispanic, and white teens. Between 1994 and 2007 the summer labor force participation of black teens declined from 50 to 35 percent; for Hispanic teens from 52 to 37 percent; and for whites it declined 69 to 55 percent.

•The fall-off is also similar for U.S.-born teenagers from both high- and low-income households.

•Immigrants and teenagers often do the same kind of work. In the summer of 2007, in the 10 occupations employing the most U.S.-born teenagers, one in five workers was an immigrant.

•Between 1994 and 2007, in occupations where teenage employment declined the most, immigrants made significant job gains.

•Comparisons across states in 2007 show that in the 10 states where immigrants are the largest share of workers, just 45 percent of U.S.-born teens were in the summer labor force, compared to 58 percent in the 10 states where immigrants are the smallest share of workers

. •Looking at change over time shows that in the 10 states where immigrants increased the most as a share of workers, labor force participation of U.S.-born teenagers declined 17 percentage points. In the 10 states where immigrants increased the least, teen labor force participation declined 9 percent.

•We also find that, on average, a 10 percentage-point increase in the immigrant share of a state’s work force from 1994 to 2007 reduced the labor force participation rate of U.S.-born teenagers by 7.9 percentage points.

•The most likely reason immigrants displace U.S.-born teenagers is that the vast majority of immigrants are fully developed adults — relatively few people migrate before age 20. This gives immigrants a significant advantage over U.S.-born teenagers who typically have much less work experience.

•The labor force participation of immigrant teenagers has also declined, though it was low even in the early 1990s. This along with the similar decline for U.S.-born teens from all racial and income backgrounds supports the idea that the arrival of so many adult immigrants, who work at the kinds of jobs traditionally done by teenagers, crowds all teenagers out of the labor force, both U.S.-born and foreign-born.

•Summer is the focus of this report; however, the decline in the employment of U.S.-born teenagers is year-round, including a decline during the other peak period of seasonal employment at Christmas.

•Although there is good evidence that immigration is reducing teenage labor market participation, other factors have likely also contributed...(rest of report at http://cis.org/teen-unemployment

Interesting and that you actually ate field corn at the right time, probably not as sweet. Personally I miss the old yellow sweet corn, will eat the newer salt and pepper variety, and it is sweet, but still prefer the yellow. Odd that in the stores in cans and frozen, they use the yellow, so somebody still grows the stuff. If I had more time and were younger, I'd do some more experimenting on my own. Amazing what some amateur hybridizers have developed (daylilies and zinnias), have followed discussions on that.

What I got was about half red ears, but then a wide variety of colors, some mixed ears, different colored cobs (some white, some red, some tan) and some purple husks.

From what I've read, that is usually the result, see above. I think the only way you can breed plants to hybridize "true" is to keep selecting out what you're aiming for for several generations of planting seasons. IOW what you got seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

The only other way to grow "true" is it is possible to buy a cloner which works for a lot of different varieties. My only experience with that is rooting roses from cuttings, not using a cloner per se, but are still clones of the parent plant (tricky, requires experience, trial and error, and some varieties easier than others. Even then you can end up with a "sport" but not too often. My Harvest Moon Echinacea has naturally cross-pollinated with some blowin' in the wind, not too many that close to me, one volunteer has come up a yellowish pink. And so on.

You can make your own cloner, but I haven't had time to do it. They say you can clone tomato plants and a lot you might not expect.

Some of my plants self seed and will grow "true" the following season(s). White alyssum is a prime example, plus it's extremely tolerant of dry conditions, sun or part shade, very useful for borders. Even though there are colorful varieities, the white is the best performer almost to the point of being invasive for me but so easy to transplant or just yank out if it comes up where you don't want it, will smother weeds to some extent, especially as it grows larger and spreads, blooms from now until frost.

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