Today the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on “Ensuring Economic Opportunities for Young Americans,” the goal of which was to address the rising unemployment among young people, and seek solutions to this crisis While the recession has encroached on the lives of many, young people have been hit especially hard: fewer than 52% of Americans age 16-24 have jobs and this past year saw more than 165,000 jobs lost per month.

At the hearing, two prominent advocates for youth education and employment opportunity provided testimony: Jane Oates, the assistant secretary for the Employment and Training Administration under the U.S. Department of Labor, and Matthew Segal, the founding executive director of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE). Both Oates and Segal highlighted the importance of youth internship, apprenticeship, and job programs as a possible solution to the rise in unemployment, seen predominantly within disadvantaged communities. One startling statistic: the number of teens applying for summer jobs increased 110% since 1960. As one speaker put it, “internships are becoming a prerequisite rather than a distinction” for future employment.

One program discussed extensively was the Summer Employment Program (part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February.) Oates and Segal argued that these summer jobs are crucial for young people, and that while, historically, work and education have competed with one another when they should be aligned with one another. They emphasized that these summer programs can bridge the interests and ambition of youth with their education, which is essential to creating an incentive for young people to pursue higher education. Other similar programs discussed were the Youth Build Program and the ConnectEd Program, which both serve as community mentorship programs and introduce job skills to youth across the nation.

Although this issue of unemployment deals directly with the Department of Labor, it was mentioned repeatedly that there needs to be an ongoing dialogue between the Department of Labor and the Department of Education in order to ensure long-term opportunity for young Americans.