U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Spotlight on Statistics

March 2011

BLS Spotlight on Statistics: School's Out

Chart Data

What Proportion of Youth Are Working?

Employment-population ratio, age 16–19 years and 16–24 years, July, 1950–2010
Year	Age
Year	16 to 19 years	16 to 24 years
1950	55.2	58.6
1951	58.9	61.5
1952	57.5	59.3
1953	56.6	58.6
1954	51.3	54.7
1955	54.2	57.2
1956	57.7	59.8
1957	56.2	60.0
1958	49.0	54.4
1959	50.8	56.1
1960	52.6	57.4
1961	50.5	55.2
1962	52.0	57.0
1963	48.1	55.3
1964	49.2	56.2
1965	52.1	58.6
1966	56.0	60.8
1967	55.9	61.2
1968	55.3	61.2
1969	56.6	62.2
1970	54.5	60.7
1971	53.6	59.7
1972	55.2	61.5
1973	57.3	64.0
1974	57.0	64.1
1975	54.6	61.1
1976	56.6	63.7
1977	57.6	64.7
1978	60.1	66.9
1979	59.9	67.6
1980	57.8	65.1
1981	55.7	64.8
1982	52.1	61.8
1983	53.5	63.3
1984	56.7	66.1
1985	56.6	65.9
1986	56.7	66.7
1987	57.3	67.3
1988	59.6	68.5
1989	59.6	69.2
1990	56.4	67.0
1991	52.3	63.5
1992	52.0	63.8
1993	53.3	64.6
1994	54.0	64.7
1995	54.8	64.9
1996	54.0	64.1
1997	53.0	64.6
1998	54.7	64.9
1999	54.5	65.2
2000	53.5	64.8
2001	51.5	63.3
2002	47.7	60.9
2003	43.7	58.3
2004	43.9	58.9
2005	44.3	59.3
2006	44.9	59.2
2007	42.3	58.0
2008	39.2	56.0
2009	35.0	51.4
2010	31.3	48.9

Source: Current Population Survey | Chart

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