Many young people seek summer jobs to gain valuable workforce experience and have a safe, productive way to spend their summer months when they are out of school. But youth summer employment rates — like youth employment more generally — have fallen dramatically over the past few decades. In addition, research has shown that summer employment is higher among teens from wealthy families than low-income families and that white youth are significantly more likely to find summer jobs than young people of color. Summer employment among white 16- to 19-year-olds was about 40 percent in 2021, compared with 29 percent for their Black and Latinx peers.

For low-income teens and youth of color, municipal summer job programs can be an essential bridge to summer work experience. These programs create opportunities for paid employment for youth within a specified age range, usually for four to eight weeks during the summer. They provide subsidized wages for young people who work at selected employers, and often integrate other supports. Participants may work in a variety of entry-level jobs for employers including government agencies, hospitals, summer camps, nonprofit retail companies, and other small businesses. Because summer youth employment programs can deliver jobs to unemployed youth and reduce violence, local and state governments can support them with their American Rescue Plan Act Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

Evaluations of summer youth employment programs in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia have found that they boosted earnings for youth who would likely have not otherwise found a job, and reduced involvement with the criminal justice system. While the evidence about these programs’ effects on educational outcomes was mixed, most studies did find positive impacts. Summer youth employment can also give young people opportunities to develop work experience, soft skills, and professional relationships that can help them transition into longer-term employment — which may be especially important for low-income youth and young people of color who do not have access to the same networks and social capital as their affluent white counterparts.

See the Brookings Institution and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for more resources on summer youth employment.

• Elected and appointed city officials can establish a citywide or neighborhood-based summer youth employment program.
   
• Business leaders can support summer youth employment by agreeing to hire a certain number of youth every summer, or offering donations to help fund job placements at nonprofits and government agencies.
   
• Community-based organizations and other advocates can hire youth as part of the employer base for summer youth employment programs and can also work with city leaders to ensure that programs effectively serve youth with the greatest need.

Successful summer youth employment programs include multiple points of entry into the program, meeting youth where they are; high-quality mentorship and relationships with adults to help youth focus on their futures, and comprehensive financial capability services to ensure that youth learn the skills needed to plan for and build long-term financial security. In addition, cities seeking to implement summer youth employment programs must consider a range of practical and logistical questions.

• Private sector partnerships: Private sector partners are critical to the success of any youth employment program, as the business community will serve as the largest source of job placements and can also contribute funding.
   
• Targeting marginalized populations: Summer jobs programs can have a multiplier effect for low-income youth. With additional coaching and mentorship, summer employment can help youth build life skills beyond the demands of their particular job. Unless they are connected to more intensive year-round services, however, summer youth employment programs alone are inadequate to meet the needs of young people who are disconnected from school and work.
   
• Connected and streamlined systems: High-quality summer employment programs require streamlined systems to coordinate the many stakeholders involved. Data collection infrastructure is necessary to track and follow up with youth throughout the program and beyond. Coaches, mentors, business partners, and nonprofit organizations contribute to the quality and success of a summer youth employment program.
   
• Connection to regional workforce plans: Successful summer youth employment programs should align with regional workforce development needs and goals to ensure the programs’ long-term viability and help reduce the skills gaps facing a given region.
   
• Sustainability: Youth employment programs should be rooted in the goal of long-term regional economic success and should target their efforts accordingly. This includes ensuring permanent funding sources and building lasting partnerships with anchor institutions such as hospitals, banks, universities, and government agencies.