Youth joblessness, and the future prospects of young people, is a major public issue that has received little attention in the United States. Please join us for an important and timely conference that will share new analyses with a solutions-oriented approach. Youth, Jobs and the Future: Responses to Youth Unemployment will convene at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College on October 22 and 23, 2015.

Discussion begins Thursday evening with a keynote by Robert Kuttner of Brandeis University and The American Prospect, moderated by Kathleen Gerson of New York University. It continues all day Friday with a diverse group of speakers, starting in the morning with an overview of the youth unemployment problem, and continuing with panels on policy recommendations and solutions going forward.

The conference confronts recent findings that employment prospects for teens and young adults have grown precipitously worse between 2000 and 2011. While this social problem is well documented and addressed across Europe, it has been relatively overlooked by academics and policymakers in the United States, where surprisingly little has been written about American youth who feel ‘disconnected’ from work and education. We hope you will join us for this cutting edge gathering of sociologists, economists and policymakers.

Space is limited so please RSVP early.

Watch the conference via Livestream here.

Questions: Contact Rafael Muñoz, rafael.munoz@hunter.cuny.edu or 212.650.3184

Co-Presented by:

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SCHEDULE

Day 1 – October 22, 2015, 6:00 pm

Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
47-49 East 65th Street (btwn. Park and Madison Avenues)

6:00 pm
Keynote Address
Jobs for Young Americans: The Enduring Case for Full Employment
Robert Kuttner, Co-Editor, The American Prospect; Professor of Social Policy, Brandeis University

Moderated by Kathleen Gerson, Professor of Sociology and Collegiate Professor of Arts and Science, New York University

7:15 pm
Reception

Day 2 – October 23, 2015, 8:30 am

Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
47-49 East 65th Street (btwn. Park and Madison Avenues)

8:30 am
Registration and coffee

9:00 am
Welcoming remarks
Lynn Chancer, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Hunter College, City University of New York and Martín Sánchez-Jankowski, Professor of Sociology, University of California at Berkeley; Director, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

9:10 am
Panel 1. A ‘Macro’ Overview of the Problem

Moderator: Shyama Venkateswar, Distinguished Lecturer and Director, Public Policy Program, Roosevelt House

Panelists:

Michael Hout, Professor of Sociology; Director, Center for Advanced Social Science Research, New York University
Arne Kalleberg, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

10:15 am
Coffee Break

10:30 am 
Panel 2. Youth Un/employment: Diverse Effects on Working Class/Poor Young People

Moderator: Norma Fuentes-Mayorga, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Latina/o Studies Program, City College, City University of New York

Panelists:

Richard Alba, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York and Nancy Foner, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Shawn Bushway, Professor of Public Administration and Policy, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York
Andy Stern, former President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

12:00 pm
Lunch

1:00 pm
Panel 3. Youth Un/employment: Affluent and Middle Class Youth—How much of a Difference?

Moderator: Jessica Halliday Hardie, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Hunter College, City University of New York

Panelists:

Yasemin Besen-Cassino, Associate Professor of Sociology, Montclair State University
Maria Kefalas, Professor of Sociology; Director, Richard Johnson Center for Anti-Violence, Saint Joseph’s University and Patrick Carr, Associate Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Martín Sánchez-Jankowski, Professor of Sociology, University of California at Berkeley; Director, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

2:30 pm
Coffee break

2:45 pm
Panel 4. Policy Proposals – In and Out of the Box

Moderator: Christine Trost, Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, University of California at Berkeley

Panelists:

Stanley S. Litow, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs & President, IBM International Foundation
Jamie McCallum, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Middlebury College
Jonathan Cutler, Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology, Wesleyan University
Lynn Chancer, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Hunter College, City University of New York

4:15 pm
Summary Discussion and Roundtable: Where Do We Go From Here?

Moderator: Corey Abramson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona

Panelists:

Grace Protos, Regional Administrator, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor
Roberta Reardon, Commissioner Nominee, New York State Department of Labor
Andre White, Deputy Chief of Staff, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development
Stanley S. Litow, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs & President, IBM International Foundation

SPEAKERS





RESOURCES & MEDIA