How To Improve Youth Adult Employment Demographic Questions 1) Select your favorite nonprofit from our participating Grant Partners. q Alliance of People with disAbilities q Association of WA Businesses q Boys & Girls Club q Chinese Information & Service Center q City Club q Come Clean q Compass Housing Alliance q Council on American Islamic Relations q El Centro De La Raza q Issaquah Chamber of Commerce q Issaquah History Museums q Mary’s Place q Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce q Omak Chamber of Commerce q Renton Technical College q Solid Ground q Union Gospel Mission q Treehouse for Kids q TVW q Valley Cities Counseling & Consultation q WA Business Week q WA Federation of Independent Schools q WA Policy Center q WA Restaurant Association Ed.Foundation q Woodland Park Zoo 3) Age: q 16-24 q 25-34 q 35-44 q 45-54 q 55+ 2) Zip Code: _____________________________ 7) Have you ever hired a young adult (ages 16-24) to work for you or your business? q Yes q No CommunityForumsNetwork.org 4) Gender: q Male q Female 5) Ethnicity q Asian/Pacific Islander q Black/African-American q Caucasian q Hispanic q Native American/Alaska Native q Other/Multi-Racial q I Prefer Not To Answer 6) Employment q Employer q Working q Student q Looking for full or part-time work q Homemaker q Retired q Disabled 8) Did you choose to watch the video before answering the survey? q Yes q No Why Youth Employment Matters First time and entry-level jobs provide essential work experience and life skills for young adults (ages 16-24). Accordingly, young adult employment should be strongly encouraged as a crucial part of their personal and career development on the path to financial independence. At 43%, Washington State has the nation’s ninth lowest employment rate for young adults. North Dakota has the highest employment rate at 64%, while Georgia has the lowest employment rate of 39%. The purpose of presenting this topic is to look at the reasons why young adult employment has trended downward and to discuss proposed solutions that might reverse trends. Topic Questions The following question was submitted by Lawrence Pang, Executive Director of the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce: 9) What are the greatest skills or value gained through the experience of having a first time or entry-level job? Rank your top 3 answers, 1 being your top answer, 2nd and then 3rd. q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written Other: : ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ CommunityForumsNetwork.org Youth Employment Survey Page 2 • Young adult employment in Washington State has been trending steadily down for the last 12 years. • Today, only about 43% of young adults have a job (44% of white young adults and 38% of minority young adults). The following question was submitted by Anthony Anton, President of the WA Restaurant Association: 10) What do you believe is causing the downward trend of young adult employment? Choose your ONE best answer: q 1. Older, higher skilled workers are competing for lower skilled jobs. q 2. Young adults are emphasizing education or volunteer opportunities over first-time or entry-level jobs. q 3. Government has added more restrictions on when, where and how many hours that young adults can work. q 4. Employers increasingly view hiring young adults as too difficult and expensive because of the more restrictive government regulations and increasingly higher state minimum wage (17 states have minimum wage levels above the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Washington’s minimum wage is $9.04 per/hr) q 5. Other ___________________________________________________________________________ q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written The following question was submitted by Matt Watrous, Executive Director, Boys & Girls Clubs, Washington State Association 11) Community service and skill building programs offered by youth development organizations provide the opportunity for young adults and youth to gain critical skills. Where should the funds come from to support these types of youth development programs? Choose your ONE best answer: q q q q q 1. Private sector and nonprofit communities 2. State and local government grants and taxpayer supported programs 3. Both the private and public sectors should be investing in youth development programs I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question I OBJECT to the way this question was written CommunityForumsNetwork.org Youth Employment Survey Page 3 12) Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:? Young adults (ages 16 to 24) should focus on staying in school and getting a college degree or vocational training to build future careers – not on finding work experience. q Strongly agree q Agree q Neutral q Disagree q Strongly Disagree q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written The following question was submitted by Sheely Mauck, Business development executive and youth advocate in King County: 13) Below are programs or ideas designed to help increase youth employment. Rank each option from 1 to 5, with 1 being what you think would be most cost-effective and 5 being the least cost-effective: q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written Other: : ______________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? 14) The focus needs to be on improving the economy and creating jobs in general. When overall unemployment drops, young adults will find more job opportunities that are now being filled by older adults. q Strongly agree q Agree q Neutral q Disagree q Strongly Disagree q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written CommunityForumsNetwork.org Youth Employment Survey Page 4 The following question was submitted by State Rep. Cary Condotta 12th Legislative District (Wenatchee) 15) In general, do you support the idea of a special training wage for young adults (ages 16-19) during the first 3-12 months of their employment, as a way to encourage more employers to hire inexperienced young adults? q Yes q No q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written The following question was submitted by Kris Johnson, VP of Operations for the Association of Washington Business Institute 16) Do you believe business involvement in the government’s current “workforce training” system is critical to training the skilled employees necessary to increasing economic growth and job opportunities? q Yes q No q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written 17) In your view, what is the best approach to delivering workforce skills? Please choose your ONE best answer: q 1. Expand existing workforce training/ worksource programs q 2. Offer vocational track in high schools again q 3. Provide incentives for businesses to take the lead in providing workforce training q 4. Fund community and technical colleges at a higher level q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written CommunityForumsNetwork.org Youth Employment Survey Page 5 18) What do you think is the single best approach to increase employment among young adults (age 16 -24)? Please choose your ONE best answer: q 1. School-based training and youth development programs: Increase state funding for vocational and technical curriculum, high school internships, apprenticeships and entrepreneurship training. q 2. Non-school based training and youth development programs: Increase state funding for after school and summer programs, workforce and life skills training. q 3. New legislation: Allow for a training wage, reform industry regulations, revise the Business & Occupation tax structure. q 4. Business-based workforce training: Businesses with job openings should provide young adults with training, apprenticeships and intern programs without receiving any additional financial incentives. q 5. Family responsibility: Families should instill a strong work ethic in their children. q Other ____________________________________________________________________________________ q I choose to ABSTAIN from answering this question q I OBJECT to the way this question was written 19) One final question . . . We would love your feedbak on the topic video and survey or anything else you would like to share with us. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Final Verification of your survey. You must fill out this section for survey respones to be counted. Name: _________________________________________ Email:__________________________________________ q Yes, I would like to receive the Youth Employment Consensus Report and CFN Monthly Newsletters. CFN Privacy Policy Your personal information is NEVER included in the CFN Report and we do NOT track your survey responses with your personal contact information. CFN will never share, sell, or rent your personal data to anyone, or any third party for any reason. . CommunityForumsNetwork.org Youth Employment Survey Page 6