Alabama has the highest rate of young people not in school or employed, new survey finds

Although Alabama’s statewide unemployment rate continues to drop to record lows — now sitting at just 2.1% — there’s one demographic whose numbers stand out.

That is the estimated 492,021 Alabamians in the 18 to 24 age group. Among that group, 18% of them are not enrolled in school or employed, according to a new survey from the Alabama Workforce Council and the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation.

When the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas compared the survey’s findings to nationwide data, it found that Alabama has the highest rate of unemployed young people who are not in school.

GOP polling firm Cygnal conducted the survey from Aug. 3 to 21 and received responses from 404 people in the targeted demographic. Among the 245 employed respondents, 51% identified as male and 49% as female. In the group of 159 unemployed respondents, 46% were male and 54% were female.

The survey asked questions about why young people are happy or unhappy in their current jobs, why they may be unemployed and what issues have caused them to leave jobs in the past. These answers provided some insight into the reasons behind Alabama’s high rate of youth who are unemployed and not actively pursuing education.

Here are a few more findings from the survey.

Unhappy with pay

While 80% of employed young people in Alabama are content in their current jobs, the primary cause of dissatisfaction is pay, with 19% of respondents citing wages as a reason for unhappiness.

The Alabama Department of Labor’s July data shows that of the 48,540 total job ads listed with salaries in the state that month, the majority were paying under $50,000 a year.

Around 66% of unemployed young people reported that they are actively searching for work, and the Alabama Workforce Council said those living in urban areas were more likely to be on the job search than those living in rural areas.

Still, the Department of Labor reports that there are 69,832 more active online job listings in Alabama than there are unemployed workers.

Barriers to work in Alabama

The survey found a few reasons why these unemployed young people are struggling to find jobs that fit their needs. Over a third of them are caring for at least one family member, 24% are managing their own disability or illness and 52% have unreliable means of transportation. Many of the unemployed respondents, about 39%, don’t even have drivers licenses.

Moreover, 37% of respondents said they have "postponed taking new jobs, changing positions within the same company, or enrolling in school or training due to concerns about losing benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," and 52% reported concerns about losing Medicaid benefits.

Out of all the young people surveyed, only one in five was familiar with Alabama Works, a network of workforce service providers that connects residents with employment and training opportunities. It came about through the recommendations of Alabama Workforce Council, the governor-appointed group dedicated to understanding the inner workings of the state workforce.

Recently, the workforce council has been focusing on young people to build up the workforce. Efforts include the new survey and a committee formed to prepare graduating high school seniors to become good employees.

Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Survey shows high rate of young Alabamians not in school, employed