This report provides current and historical labor force information about young people ages 16 to 24. In general, youth have a lower rate of labor force participation, and those who are in the labor force are less likely to gain employment than older workers. Both labor supply and demand factors drive this pattern. On the labor supply side, young people are making greater investments in education by enrolling in and completing high school and college in greater numbers. They are less likely to be attached to the labor force due to their limited availability (e.g., only able to work full-time during the summer if they attend school) and their relatively weaker connections to employers. Labor demand also plays a role. Youth are less desirable in some ways than adult workers because they are less experienced; have fewer skills and education; and are potentially short-term hires, which can be costly to employers. The report focuses on trends from 2000 to 2018. This period has included two recessions (March to November 2001 and December 2007 to June 2009) and a decline in jobs requiring only a high school diploma. Many workers were still struggling to find work in the years immediately following the more recent recession. The recession exacerbated challenges that workers have faced in securing and retaining employment since 2000. Against this backdrop, young people ages 16 to 24 experienced their steepest decreases in labor force participation and employment; however, in recent years employment levels have steadily been recovering. Some studies have found that early labor market experiences and outcomes have lasting impacts on employability and wages. Given the current and future challenges that young people can experience in the labor market, this report may be of interest to Congress in the contexts of workforce development, education, unemployment insurance, youth policy, or macroeconomic policy; however, the report does not discuss specific programs or policy implications. The report begins with a brief discussion of current employment and education pathways that young people can pursue. Following this is a description of the labor market data used in the report, which includes the labor force participation rate, employment-population ratio, and unemployment rate. The report then discusses these data for the post-World War II period, with a focus on trends since 2000, comparing labor force outcomes based on age, sex, and race/ethnicity. The report concludes by exploring the factors that influence the extent to which youth participate in the labor force and their prospects for employment. The last section also discusses the potential short- and long-term effects of young people's labor market experiences. The Appendix includes supplemental tables and figures on youth employment trends. Declines in the shares of young people participating and working in the labor force is probably due, in part, to growing enrollment in high school and postsecondary education, which is likely a result of a growing need for higher levels of educational attainment to secure employment. The Department of Labor's (DOL's) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which measures labor market activity, predicts that the fastest growing occupations between 2016 and 2026 will require some postsecondary education. For the purposes of this report , youth refers to young people ages 16 through 24. Individuals as young as 16 are included because BLS counts workers beginning at this age. Although traditional definitions of youth have considered adolescence to be a period ending at age 18, cultural and economic shifts have protracted the time for youth to transition to adulthood. The current move from adolescence to adulthood has become longer and more complex, and policymakers and others are recognizing that adolescence is no longer a finite period that ends at the age of majority. Older youth, up to age 24, are included because they are often still in school and/or living with their parents. Young people ages 16 through 24 may pursue a variety of education and employment pathways. Those of high school age may attend high school and/or work. Youth with a high school diploma can attend a two- or four-year college, enlist in the armed services, or secure part-time or full-time employment. Some youth work and attend school simultaneously, while others alternate between work and school (e.g., summer jobs). Young people who drop out of high school can do some of these same things, but their opportunities are more limited. They cannot enroll in a four-year college or, in most cases, enlist in the military. They may also face challenges securing employment. Even young people who are attending high school or an institution of higher education (or those on a break from school) may still want to work, or feel that they have to work, for a variety of reasons—to have spending cash, contribute to their household income, gain work experience, and save for the future, among other possibilities. A nationally representative survey in 2015 found that the majority (61%) of young adults ages 18 to 30 in the labor market are optimistic about future job opportunities. This optimism had increased since the previous survey in 2013 (45%). Further, the 2015 survey found that young adults have a strong preference for steady employment over higher pay, though this has declined somewhat since 2013 (62% in 2015 versus 67% in 2013 for steady employment; and 36% in 2015 versus 30% in 2013 for higher pay). This section describes data on participation in the labor force, including how it applies to youth. The data are reported by BLS based on a household survey conducted by the Census Bureau. This survey, known as the Current Population Survey (CPS), collects labor force and other data from a nationally representative sample of 60,000 households on a monthly basis. The survey includes households with civilian non-institutionalized individuals and excludes individuals residing in correctional facilities, residential nursing and mental health facilities, college dorms, military facilities, and other institutions. Employed and unemployed youth (beginning at age 16) and adults (no upper age limit) are counted by BLS as part of the labor force. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of individuals in the population who are employed and who are unemployed ( Labor Force Participa tion Rate = Employed + Unemployed Individuals/Civilian Population Age 16+ ) . BLS considers individuals to be employed if they work at all for pay or profit during the week that they are surveyed. This includes all part-time and temporary work, as well as regular full-time, year-round employment. It does not include unpaid internships. Individuals are considered unemployed if they are jobless, actively looking for jobs, and available for work. Job search activities include sending out resumes or filling out applications, among certain other activities. The employment-population r atio is the proportion of individuals in the non-institutionalized U.S. population who are employed ( Employment to Population Ratio = Employed Individuals/Civilian Non-institutionalized Population ). The unemployment rate is the share of individuals in the labor force who are unemployed ( Unemployment Rate = Unemployed Individuals/Labor Force ). Labor force participation measures the extent to which individuals are engaged in or actively seeking work, and for this reason has been used as a proxy indicator of interest in working. Generally, increasing labor force participation indicates greater interest in working, while decreasing labor force participation indicates declining or noninterest in working. Changes in labor force participation rates, however, are not perfect indicators of individual or collective preference about work. For example, labor force participation may decline because individuals become discouraged about job prospects and give up looking for work. Individuals may also decide to pursue education instead of work to improve future job prospects. The employment-population ratio and the unemployment rate can help to gauge market conditions. When the employment-population ratio rises, it means that a larger percentage of the working-age population is employed. The unemployment rate is also an indicator of whether individuals are able to be employed in the labor force. This rate should be interpreted with caution: changes in the unemployment rate can mask the extent to which individuals want to work. The unemployment rate can fall without a corresponding rise in employment if unemployed workers leave the labor force. The figures and tables in this section and the Appendix display labor force data over the period following World War II (starting in 1948, when the data first became available) based on age, sex, and race/ethnicity. The figures also plot the 11 periods when the country was in recession. Table A-1 , Table A-2 , Figure A-1 , and Figure A-2 in the Appendix show broader labor force trend data for teens and young adults, respectively, from 1948 through 2017. The labor market experiences of youth are different based on their age. Figure 1 charts the employment-population ratio from 1948 through 2017 for teens (ages 16 to 19), young adults (ages 20 to 24), and "prime-age" individuals (ages 25 to 54). Over that time, teens had the lowest employment-population ratios, followed by young adults. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the prime-age adults' and young adults' employment-population ratios moved in the same direction, declining in the 1950s and then increasing in the 1960s and 1970s. The difference in their employment-population ratios began to grow beyond that period, reaching nearly 13 percentage points in 2017. Figure 1 also illustrates the cyclical nature of the employment-population ratio, particularly for teens. The teen employment-population ratio had a greater decline soon after the start of a recession compared to the ratios for young adults and prime-age adults. Further, the employment-population ratio for young adults generally exhibited a more upward trajectory. This is due, in part, to young adult females entering the labor market in greater numbers starting in the 1960s. The employment-population ratios for both teens and young adults dipped from 2000 to 2010 (capturing the effects of two recessions), but more dramatically for teens (a 33% versus 9% decline). The indicators for both age groups began recovering following the 2007 to 2009 recession, with greater gains in the labor force participation rate and employment-population ratio for teens (see Table A-1 and Table A-2 in the Appendix ).