76-19-B2

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Youth Employment

Transcript Some have said the looting last July in New York was aggravated by not enough welfare. Others said it was the direct result of four decades of too much welfare. I myself have deplored a tendency in education to ignore teaching moral precepts. Columnist John Chamberlain recognized all these differing views in a recent column, but then came up with what might very well be the best explanation. Idle hands can get into mischief. Juveniles who can't find summer jobs to keep them busy and to provide pocket money not only become bored, they can become resentful toward a society that seemingly doesn't need them. John Chamberlain called attention to the fact that George Meany and President Carter met recently to discuss the minimum wage. Meany said it should be three dollars an hour; the President wanted to go to $2.50. They finally settled on $2.65. How many jobs that teenagers with no experience in the labor market can do have disappeared because possible employers don't think the jobs they can do are worth $2.65 an hour. I remember a meeting I had with a group of youngsters from one of our minority neighborhoods while I was Governor. These young people earnestly wanted an opportunity to work and earn. I expressed the view (backed by some available statistics) that jobs had been eliminated by the minimum wage and that we needed a waiver for young people such as themselves. I had thought they might possibly resent the suggestion that they should work below the prescribed pay level. I was wrong. They asked if I would help in trying to get the law changed. I've been trying ever since. John Chamberlain's column reported the findings of University of Chicago economist Yale Brazen in two masterful studies that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that every time the minimum wage goes up, teenage unemployment goes right up with it. Four Congressmen, Senators McClure and Hatch and Representatives Clarence Brown and John Rousselot, were impressed enough by Brozen's figures to sponsor an independent study by Professor Williams of Temple University that is now before the Joint Economic committee of Congress. Teenage unemployment averages five times that of the civilian labor force over age 25. And youths between 20 and 24 average 2½ times as much. Young people 16 to 24 are only one quarter of the work force, but they are one-half of all the unemployed. And young blacks have an unemployment rate almost double that of their white contemporaries. Everyone must feel needed. I've never forgotten an episode a few years ago when one of our winter storms had churned up a high tide and rough surf which threatened to undermine and destroy dozens of beautiful beach homes. All day and into the night, volunteers filled sand bags and built barricades. It was some time after midnight when a TV reporter stopped a young man in swimming trunks. It was so cold you could see his breath. Yes, he'd been at it all day. Yes, he was cold and tired. Did he live in one of those houses? No. Then why? He stopped for a second, then he said something so poignant -- this average teenager -- that it should be printed on a billboard. "I guess it's the first time we've ever felt needed." This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 76-19-B2 Production Date 09/06/1977 Book/Page RihoH-303 Audio Youtube? No
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