Young Americans are having the toughest time finding work in more than six decades, according to a new study.

A new KIDS COUNT® report (pdf) from The Annie E. Casey Foundation says youth employment is at its lowest level since World War II, with nearly 6.5 million teenagers and young adults unemployed and not in school. Nationwide, only 26% of Americans aged 16 to 19 are employed; while 61% aged 20 to 24 have jobs.

The report warns that these Americans run the risk of chronic underemployment as adults due to a lack of vocational skills that employers demand in today’s workforce.

Adding to their troubles are older workers displaced by the recession who are competing for entry-level jobs, creating a scarcity of opportunities for people 16-24 in age.

Many of these young adults also have families, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which said about 20%, or 1.4 million people, have children of their own.

This “means their inability to find work and build careers can perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of poverty,” the foundation said in a press release.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for teenagers is 13%. But among black and Hispanic teens it is 16%. For those 20-24 in age, the national average of those jobless and not in school is 20%. The rate is much worse for young adult blacks (29%) and Hispanics (23%).

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Youth Unemployment Soars in Past Decade (Annie E. Casey Foundation)

Youth and Work: Policy Report (Annie E. Casey Foundation) (pdf)