The forgotten millions: Disconnected young Americans
Roughly one out of every six young people between the ages of 18 and 24 is neither enrolled in school nor working full time — an indicator of a quietly brewing crisis.
They aren’t showing up in education enrollment figures or workforce statistics. But they’re out there — across the United States, 16% of young people are disconnected, drifting, and often invisible to the systems meant to support them.
These young people, at a critical transition period between adolescence and adulthood, should be building the foundation for stable, healthy lives. Instead, many are stalled — shut out of the labor market, struggling with economic instability, and trying to navigate adulthood without meaningful support.
According to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, these young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market. In the Federal Reserve’s Eighth District, which is made up of Arkansas and portions of six other states — Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois — 18% of young people are disconnected.
Nationally, the numbers are even more concerning, with economic, racial, and geographic disparities intensifying the crisis.
Nationally, young Black Americans recorded a disconnection rate of about 21%, white Americans roughly 14%, and Hispanic Americans around 18%. When considering the role of both race and geography, young Black Americans living in rural areas had the highest disconnection rate, at 29%.
Those figures clearly show that alarming levels of disconnection are not confined to any one region or demographic group.
Whether you’re in rural Kentucky, inner-city Detroit, or the suburbs of Connecticut, the story is strikingly similar: too many young people are falling through the cracks and disconnecting from social services and supports.
According to the Federal Reserve’s analysis, the rate of youth disconnection is the highest in rural counties at 20.2%. In the nation’s 260 largest urban centers, the disconnection rate is 17.2%.
Here in Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth largest city, historical factors such as deindustrialization and a minimum wage of $7.25 have, according to a local analysis, led to a significant population of approximately 30,000 disconnected youth and young people.
These are not just statistics; they are communities impacted, futures paused, dreams deferred, and talent left to idle. The term disconnected youth sounds straightforward, but behind it is a growing crisis that speaks to our nation’s priorities, our failures, and our future.
These are not just statistics; they are communities impacted, futures paused, dreams deferred, and talent left to idle.
We often point fingers: “They’re lazy,” “They lack motivation,” or “They’re too reliant on their phones.” But these are easy explanations for a more complex, systemic issue. Disconnection is not simply a personal failing — it’s a structural one.
It’s also one that didn’t start recently. Decades of disinvestment in public education and youth workforce development, combined with siloed social services and outdated policies, have contributed to a pipeline where young people disengage long before they turn 18. And once they do, reengaging them becomes exponentially more difficult.
Look deeper, and you’ll find young people who were failed long before they aged out of education systems — many of which did not prepare them for the realities of the workforce or provide them with the resources and tools to succeed. Instead of a bridge, many encountered a bureaucratic maze.
Disconnected youth are not disconnected by choice; they are disconnected by exclusion.
» READ MORE: Congress members haven’t had federal pay raises since 2009. Neither have Americans who earn minimum wage. | Opinion
Current federal and state policies are often not designed to reach those most in need — especially youth who have become “system wary,” or reluctant to seek out support after prior negative experiences. The majority of community efforts remain underfunded and fragmented, lacking the resources to provide intensive, place-based services at the scale needed.
Disconnection during these formative years carries lasting consequences. Research shows that disconnected youth face significantly reduced lifetime earnings, higher rates of unemployment, increased interaction with the criminal legal system, and poorer physical and mental health. For those disconnected longest — especially young people without a high school diploma or access to career pathways — economic mobility often becomes out of reach.
The result? A generation that feels unseen and unheard. And let’s be clear: When young people are disconnected, we all pay the price. The economic cost of doing nothing is one that should be concerning at every level. Youth disconnection costs an estimated $93 billion annually in lost earnings, lower tax revenues, and increased public spending on health care, criminal justice, and social services. These outcomes not only hurt individuals and families but also weaken our economy and devastate communities.
Investing in reconnection is not just morally right, it’s fiscally responsible.
When young people are disconnected, we all pay the price.
Solving youth disconnection will not be easy, but at minimum, it requires a new, national approach — one rooted in place-based coordination and long-term investment. It requires political will, cross-sector collaboration, better data, system connectivity, and expanded access.
It also means broadening the definition of postsecondary success beyond four-year degrees to include apprenticeships, certifications, and other career-aligned pathways. It requires us, as a nation, to shift how we understand — and value — young people’s lives and contributions.
At the same time, we must listen to young people themselves. Many are eager to work, learn, and contribute — but they face real barriers that require more than motivational slogans and subpar investments. A high school student who skips class to care for siblings or misses schoolwork to help with rent isn’t “disinterested in education,” they’re managing adult responsibilities in systems that weren’t built for them.
Disconnected youth are not failing us. We are failing them. And unless we act with urgency and intentionality, the quietly brewing crisis of youth disconnection will become one of the most defining, yet preventable, failures of our time.
And the consequences are enormous — not just for those young people, but for all of us.
DaVonti’ Haynes is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Temple University.