Improving Youth Summer Jobs Programs

Youth summer jobs programs have experienced a resurgence of interest and investment since the Great Recession, driven by concerns about high unemployment rates among young people, particularly those who are low-income, black, or Hispanic. Recent research points to summer jobs programs as a positive lever for change that can reduce violence, incarceration, and mortality, and improve academic outcomes; but the research has not yet linked summer jobs programs to improved employment outcomes. On July 14, 2016, the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program hosted an event that explored core elements associated with high-performing programs and offered recommendations to strengthen summer jobs programs. The Brookings website includes resources from that event.