Less Than A Third Of NYC'S Young Men Work Full Time, Study Shows

NEW YORK CITY — Less than a third of New York City's young men have full time work, according to a new study.

The employment rate for men aged 18 to 24 stood at 31 percent in the first three months of 2022 according to the analysis from the New School's Center for New York City Affairs released Thursday.

"Our recent economic update revealed that young adults have nearly three times the rate of unemployment as the city’s workforce overall," the analysis states. "Employment rates for young males are uniformly low."

Employment numbers among young men were low across various racial and ethnic groups with young Latinx men coming in at 34 percent employment for the high and young Asian men at 25 percent for the lowest, data show.

Young Black men's employment rate stood at 31 percent and young white men's was 30, the analysis found.

These numbers contrast significantly with those of young women workers, who have a 14 percent unemployment rate that's roughly half of young men's 27 percent unemployment rate.

However, women saw greater racial disparity among the workforce with 63 percent of white females employed but just 29 percent of young Asian females, the data show.

New School analysts posited women have seen employment rates rise as pandemic restrictions eased and childcare became easier to procure.

New York officials estimates there are about 150,000 unemployed young men amid a gig economy that makes it more difficult for the young to hold onto steady work, the Mayor's Office of Youth Employment told THE CITY, first to publish the analysis's results.

“Maybe they get a job at Amazon making $16 to $17 an hour, but it is not full time," Executive Director David Fischer reportedly said.

"That young person is probably going to be the first one laid off and it’s not likely that they have built the work experience needed to move on.”