WalletHub, a personal finance website, continues through a busy summer of studies and has returned with another, this time focusing on the youth of the nation.
With approximately 16% of young Americans that are between the ages of 18 and 24 neither working or attending school, it is prevalent that many youth do not have a stable home, positive role models or tools for success. Issues such as these affect youth well into their later years, and can be harmful to society.
At least 77% of young adults today are ineligible to join the U.S. military as they fail academic, moral or health qualifications. Research also shows that growing up in environments with economic problems and a lack of role models make an individual more at-risk for poverty, early pregnancy and violence.
These issues prompted WalletHub to conduct a study to determine where young Americans may not fare as well as others that are within the same generation. The personal finance website’s data set ranged from the share of disconnected youth to the labor force participation rate.
The least at-risk youth are located in the state of Massachusetts with a score of 25.95. However, the Beehive State was not far behind in that regard, coming in fourth with a score of 31.41, just behind New Hampshire (27.25) and New Jersey (30.50).
Young Utahns ranked well in a number of categories. They were found as the second lowest state in regard to the percent of overweight and obese youth, this time coming in under the number one state of Massachusetts. The youth in Utah are also the second lowest in the percentage of youth drug users.
It was found that the younger generation in the state of Utah ranked second highest in the youth labor force participation rate. Finally, in a share of disconnected youth over time, the state of Utah has been found to have one of the lowest idle youth rates since 2009.