Essay
We tell our children that if they work hard, they will succeed. However for millions of teens today in Minnesota, "working hard" hits a wall before it even begins. Minnesota's teen unemployment rate rose up to 7.1% in April as compared to last year's 5.5%, according to Oriane Casale, an assistant director of the Labor Market Information Office at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. It’s not due to a lack of talent, but a lack of information.
Right now, our youth employment system is a maze of disconnected websites, outdated bulletin boards, and word-of-mouth networks that leave behind anyone without the "right" connections. I and the voices of Minnesota teens are asking the most digital-native generation in history to navigate through a 20th-century bureaucracy to find a 21st-century career.
My bill, funding for the Youth Workforce Opportunity, fixes this. It funds the creation of a Centralized Digital Platform. It’s an easy to use hub where every young person can find training, apprenticeships, and jobs. Think of it as a GPS for the workforce.
Here is why this matters:
- It breaks the wall in the beginning. Instead of searching fifty different sites, teens can find everything in one place.
- It Saves Taxpayers Money: Youth unemployment costs us billions in lost tax revenue and social safety net expenses. By connecting teens to jobs faster, we turn tax consumers into tax payers.
- It Guarantees Accountability: This isn't a blank check. My bill requires a strict annual report to Congress and the public, ensuring every dollar appropriated delivers real results.
We have the jobs. We have the talent. We just need to build the bridge.