Why Are Teens Shitting in McCarren Pool? Because They Can’t Find Jobs.
You know how there never seem to be enough hours in the day to swim with feces, get stopped-and-frisked, AND work a part-time job?
Well, don’t worry, NYC teens! This summer, you don’t have to choose!
That’s right. Due to the city’s overall unemployment rate hovering close to the 10% mark, teens who are looking for summer jobs are finding themselves completely out of luck.
Competing with teens for entry-level positions are adults who can continue to work once the summer is over and who come bearing more experience than kids who have never held a job before. The Wall Street Journal reports that “some city shopkeepers with the sorts of jobs that might have seemed ideal for students on summer furloughs—cashiers, retail clerks, delivery positions—acknowledged a surplus of experienced applicants.”
And while there are both city- and state-funded programs like the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program and the state’s Youth Work Program, budget woes have drastically reduced the number of teens who can benefit from these temporary job placements. While the city was able to find jobs for 52,255 youths in 2009 through the Summer Youth Employment Program, only 29,336 were employed this year out of 132,000 applicants.
Where then does this leave the tens of thousands of unemployed teens and young adults?
“Jeanne Mullgrav, commissioner of the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development, worries about the long-term impact of young people losing out to older job seekers.
“‘I can’t imagine what happens after a generation of young people are…left on the sidelines,’ she said.”
Really, Jeanne? You can’t imagine?
I think you can, but it’s not the prettiest picture.
Probably because it involves fights and floaters in McCarren pool.
