Youth Disconnection in America 2026

Full report coming soon!

Over the last decade, we have charted a steady decline in the national youth disconnection rate as the country recovered from the Great Recession, followed by a sharp upward spike in 2020 caused by Covid-19. The 2024 national youth disconnection rate is 10.7 percent, or 4,336,100 disconnected youth—this may indicate a plateauing of the post-Covid recovery.

Disconnected youth or opportunity youth, refers to teens and young adults ages 16–24 years who are neither working nor in school. The youth disconnection rate is a vital metric of access to opportunity and societal well-being. People acquire skills, credentials, habits, and experiences fundamental to a rewarding, productive, and joyous life during their teens and early twenties. The youth disconnection rate thus tells us which young people in our society have the chance to lay the groundwork for freely chosen, flourishing lives and which groups face serious challenges in the transition to adulthood. Research shows that being disconnected as a young person has long-term consequences; it’s associated with lower earnings, less education, worse health, and even less happiness in later adulthood. Determining who remains disconnected, and why, is vital to identifying strategies and interventions.