Love Action Int
"Let Our Voices Echo Action Intentionally"
Millions of American youth face persistent opportunity gaps and barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Young people who grow up in disadvantaged settings, such as living in poverty, often face barriers from the start of life that compound over time and may be exacerbated by unequal treatment in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.1 By the time youth who have experienced these challenges reach adulthood, they are less likely to have the educational attainment and labor market skills critical to success in today’s economy. As a result, they tend to participate less often in the labor force, experience higher rates of unemployment when they do participate, and earn less when they find work. Statistics on the life outcomes of young men of color, for example, help put this in perspective: incarceration, early death, high unemployment, and low labor force participation remove half of 25-year-old black men from employment, and in some States and cities these factors lower the share who are employed even further.
Yet these challenges also present opportunity: for example, CEA calculations suggest that closing education gaps between men of color and non-Hispanic white men could boost GDP by at least 1.8 percent. Many programs show exceptional promise in improving outcomes and increasing opportunity for disadvantaged youth. Over the life of impacted youth, these programs can generate benefits that are more than three times their costs, exceeding annual rates of return seen in private-sector business investments. These high-return investments make it clear that greater action to close opportunity gaps is necessary for the long-run benefit of our economy as well as our society.
Yet these challenges also present opportunity: for example, CEA calculations suggest that closing education gaps between men of color and non-Hispanic white men could boost GDP by at least 1.8 percent. Many programs show exceptional promise in improving outcomes and increasing opportunity for disadvantaged youth. Over the life of impacted youth, these programs can generate benefits that are more than three times their costs, exceeding annual rates of return seen in private-sector business investments. These high-return investments make it clear that greater action to close opportunity gaps is necessary for the long-run benefit of our economy as well as our society.
The importance of economic development in disadvantage neighborhoods.
Closing the Gaps
“Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you… yet, someone survived… You can do anything you choose to do.” –Maya Angelou