Committee Statements

We’re here today to examine economic opportunities for young Americans. Unfortunately, those opportunities seem to be few and far between these days.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that youth unemployment has reached a staggering 25.5 percent. That’s the highest level since we began tracking youth unemployment back in 1948.

These figures are daunting. Although not all young people wish to pursue employment, we know that a first job can instill critical values. Jobs breed responsibility and independence. Employment helps young people understand the value of a dollar, and what it means to work and save to pursue their goals.

The economic downturn has hit Americans of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, young people have been hit particularly hard.

With more than a quarter of young Americans unable to find a job, I expect we’ll hear proposals this morning to spend more and do more at the federal level. You see, there’s a tendency in Washington to want to throw money at our problems. I understand that reaction, but I don’t agree with it.

History has shown that federal spending – and the red tape and regulations that come with it – does not create jobs. More than $1.2 billion in federal stimulus funding has been spent to help teenagers find employment, yet the youth unemployment rate continues to soar.

Recently, the Government Accountability Office has given us clues as to why that may be the case. For instance, GAO reports significant bureaucratic problems in states’ implementation of the stimulus plan. Simply put, bureaucracy is getting in the way of jobs.

The answer is not to throw more taxpayer dollars into the bureaucratic black hole.

Nor does the answer lie in additional federal mandates. Two years ago, the majority increased the national minimum wage. They did it without providing the type of small business relief – health care assistance, for example – that Republicans advocated at the time.

We warned back then that federal mandates on employers often have unintended consequences for workers. Unfortunately, our warnings seem to have come true, as employers find it increasingly difficult to hire young people without work experience at these higher wages.

Certainly, there is an appropriate federal role to promote economic opportunity for all Americans, including youth. For instance, the Workforce Investment Act includes programs that prepare young people for employment and help them secure jobs.

One of the great strengths of the WIA framework is that it is rooted in state and local workforce investment boards – a governance structure that allows states and local communities to nimbly respond to changing labor market conditions and individual job seekers’ needs, including the needs of young people.

If we want to expand economic opportunities for young Americans, perhaps we could start by reauthorizing WIA. We have not updated that law in more than a decade – a glaring omission, particularly given our current economic challenges.

We should also focus on educational attainment, helping young people succeed in high school and beyond. An emphasis on youth employment must not overshadow the importance of education in ensuring long-term economic opportunity for the next generation.

Finally, we should foster broader policies that will spur job creation and overall economic growth – proven strategies like tax relief for small businesses, incentives for job creation, and health care reform that will reduce costs for businesses working to create and preserve jobs.

Ensuring economic opportunity is a worthwhile goal, and certainly those opportunities should include young people. I, for one, believe the best place to start is with a positive, pro-growth agenda that recognizes it is American ingenuity and enterprise – and not the federal government – that creates economic opportunity for all.

 

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