Chicago, Cook County & Illinois Among Worst in Nation for Black Youth Disconnection

CHICAGO, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report, "A Normalized Crisis: Youth and Young Adult Joblessness and Disconnection in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and the U.S., 2019–2024" conducted by the UIC Great Cities Institute documents how teenage unemployment exceeded 10 percent in 74 of the last 78 years, while the same threshold was crossed only once for prime-age workers. The analysis concludes youth joblessness is not cyclical, temporary or self-correcting — it is a long-standing policy failure.

"For nearly 80 years, youth joblessness in the United States has remained at levels that would trigger a federal emergency response if experienced by prime-age workers, yet no sustained governmental response has followed," said Jack Wuest, executive director, Alternative Schools Network, or ASN, which commissioned the report. "Why is this normalized?"

Chicago, Cook County and Illinois illustrate how that national failure plays out locally, ranking among the worst in the country for youth joblessness and disconnection from work and school, particularly for Black youth. Over 80% of Black Chicagoans ages 16 to 19 can't find work, and Chicago is the 6th-highest in the U.S. for Black youth ages 20 to 24. The findings highlight a widening gap between their white peers seen in Cook County and Illinois as well.

• Key report findings: Chicago's widening racial gaps
• In Chicago in 2024, the report finds:
  81.9% of Black youth ages 16 to 19 were jobless, compared with 62.8% of white teenagers
• 46.5% of Black young adults ages 20 to 24 were jobless, compared with 18.9% of white young adults
• Since 2019, joblessness among white teens fell 13.6 percentage points, while joblessness among Black teens fell 2.9 percentage points
• 5.8% of Black teenagers were out of school and jobless, compared to 1% of white teenagers

The report also identifies neighborhoods on the South and West Sides where teen joblessness exceeds 80% and documents how the post-pandemic recovery has been deeply uneven, with widening gaps in Chicago for ages 16 to 19. And, young people may move in and out of school enrollment in ways that obscure their labor market status in conventional measures.

National Rankings: Cook County and Illinois near the bottom
The following rankings focus on young adults ages 20 to 24, reflecting how early labor-market exclusion compounds as youth age into young adulthood:

• Cook County ranks third-worst among large counties for young adults who are out of school and out of work
• Cook County ranks sixth-worst for joblessness among Black young adults
• Illinois ranks sixth-worst among states and the District of Columbia for Black young adults who are out of school and out of work
• Illinois ranks eighth-worst for joblessness among Black young adults

"These rankings are a warning light," Wuest said. "Cook County and Illinois are showing up on the wrong end of national comparisons, and the consequences are playing out in real time in our neighborhoods."

"The report takes into account the jobless rate, which is more comprehensive than the conventional unemployment rate," said report author Matthew D. Wilson, associate director of economic and workforce development at the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute, or GCI.

"Joblessness includes those who have stopped looking for work," Wilson said, "while people are classified as unemployed only if they actively searched for work in the past month. This distinction is particularly important for young people, whose weak labor market attachment often leads them to exit the labor force entirely rather than continue searching."

The report was released Wednesday at an ASN-sponsored panel at The Union League Club of Chicago attended by General Assembly members Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-4th), Sen. Elgie Sims Jr. (D-17th), Sen. Omar Aquino (D-2nd), Rep. Norma Hernandez (D-77th) and Chicago alderpersons Jason Ervin (28th), Pat Dowell (3rd), Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Jessie Fuentes (26th). Panelists each received a Champion for Youth award, signifying ASN's appreciation for their work to move young people ahead in their lives.

Why young people get shut out of work
The report documents why young job seekers are disadvantaged even when competing for entry-level roles, including lack of formal work history, professional references, credentials, transportation access and professional networks. Employers often see those barriers as unreliability rather than structural exclusion. For Black youth, these barriers compound with discrimination and restricted access to job networks.

In response to the report's conclusions, ASN said $80 million in state funding is needed to put young Illinoisans to work in jobs programs that advocates say are sorely needed. "Youth jobs create stability, they build confidence and help our economy," Wuest said.

"When unemployment is over 10% for workers in the 25-to-54 age group, governments immediately intervene to prevent damage to the economy," Wilson said. "But unemployment among younger Americans is no less damaging. They face reduced lifetime earnings and a higher risk of future unemployment."

Evidence from Chicago and other cities show that structured youth employment programs reduce harm and deliver measurable returns, according to the report. One key Chicago-based University of Chicago study tracked approximately 1,700 youth who participated in a seven-week summer jobs program and found a 42% reduction in violent crime arrests over a 16-month follow-up period.

"Illinois must find ways to productively engage our youth," said Melissa Lewis, principal of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, on Chicago's West Side. "Every viable option should be on the table."

THE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS NETWORK & THE UIC GREAT CITIES INSTITUTE
The Alternative Schools Network is a Chicago not-for-profit organization working to provide quality education with an emphasis on inner-city children, youth and adults. Since 1973, ASN has supported community-based and community-run programs with funding and direct services, For more information:  www.asnchicago.org.

The UIC Great Cities Institute works to link academic resources with a range of partners to address urban issues by providing research, policy analysis and program development. Tied to the University of Illinois at Chicago Great Cities Commitment, GCI seeks to improve quality of life in Chicago, its metropolitan region and cities throughout the world. For more information: www.greatcities.uic.edu.

CONTACT:
LAURIE R. GLENN
773.704.7246
lrglenn@thinkincstrategy.com

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SOURCE Alternative Schools Network