Steroids Prevalent Among Youth

A new University of Minnesota study found that 5% of middle and high school students from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area used steroids to bulk up. Fox News highlighted the study in a November 19^th  article. Over one-third of boys and one-fifth of girls stated that they used protein powder, and five to ten percent said they used non-steroid substances like creatine to boost muscle mass. While athletes were more likely than non-athletes to utilize some method of muscle building, steroid use was the same among athletes and non-athletes.  Researchers pointed to the media's propagation of the muscular body as an ideal aspiration as well as the drive to perform better in sports as factors contributing to the popularity of muscle-building products.  

One in Two Youth in Spain is Unemployed

Business Insider’s Chart of the Day for May 2^nd highlighted a graph from Scott Barber and Thomson Reuters depicting youth unemployment rates in Europe.  Greece and Spain both possessed the highest rate, with more than one in two youth being unemployed.  These two nations are followed by Portugal Italy, and Ireland, with youth unemployment rates of 36.1%, 35.9%, and 30.3% respectively.  Germany, on the other hand, has weathered the economic recession quite well, and its youth unemployment rate has actually decreased since the recession began.  In comparison to the United States’ 16.4% rate, Germany, Malta, Austria, and the Netherlands are the only nations in the EU27 with a lower youth unemployment rate.  Overall, the Euro area possesses a 22.1% youth unemployment rate.

Birth Rates Reach All-Time Low among Teens

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that birth rates for U.S. teens have reached all-time lows across age and ethnic groups. The birth rate fell 9% from 2009 to 2010 among women aged 15 to 19 and the rate dropped 44% from 1991 to 2010. The number of babies born to women aged 15 to 19 was 367,752, the lowest since 1946. From 2007 to 2010, only three states – Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia – did not experience a decrease in teen birth rates. Birth rates among minorities have dropped off sharply since 1991, but disparities remain, with non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native teens continuing to possess higher birth rates than the national average. This stands in stark contrast, however, to Asian or Pacific Islander teens, whose birth rate was only 10.9 births per 1000 women.

Youth Unemployment in Europe Is "Scary"

Zero Hedge, a US financial blog, included what it referred to as “Europe’s Scariest Chart” in a post Tuesday. Rather than European debt or bond prices, as one may expect, the chart shows the unemployment rate of those 16-24 year-olds in Spain, Greece, Portugal and the entire Euro Zone. As the chart shows, the youth unemployment rates increased sharply for Spain and Greece in 2008 and have continued to climb rapidly while that of Portugal and the Euro-Zone as a whole remained comparatively stable. Currently, youth unemployment is highest in Spain and Greece at 51.4% and 46.6% respectively. That of Portugal and the Euro-Zone is quite a bit lower at 30.7% and around 20% respectively. This chart is the “scariest” because, according to Zero Hedge, “the last thing Europe needs is a discontented, disenfranchised, and devoid of hope youth roving the streets with nothing to do.”

Youth Summer Employment Hits New Low

According to an economic release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), youth summer employment continued its descent, dropping to its lowest rate since the BLS started the series in 1948. Only 48.8 percent--or 18.6 million--of youth aged 16 to 24 were employed in July, and the labor force participation rate for the age group was 59.5 percent, also a new low.

July usually signals the "summertime peak in youth employment...[as] large numbers of high school and college students search for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment." From April to July 2011 the number of employed youths increased 1.7 million, a similar increase as last summer (1.8 million) but not large enough to prevent the downward momentum in the youth employment rate.
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