Amidst these turbulent times, teens are tackling unemployment head-on in their communities
By Ian Lau
Every Thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm, Aneudys Santana leaves his house in the Bronx, taking on an entirely different persona as an art teacher, mentor, and a mural designer. Since starting a job in July, he has been making his way to the nearest bus stop wearing a mask and breathable attire, and he commutes to the program building where he teaches a group of young aspiring artists. Each week, he is greeted by the warm welcome of his students along with the distinct smell of fresh paint, and he spends his day mixing primary colors, cleaning paintbrushes, and decorating a mural with kids.
For Aneudys, a 22-year-old artist, the pandemic has served as a wake-up call, helping him realize how difficult unemployment can be during such a difficult time. In April 2020, unemployment rates reached an all-time high at an overwhelming 14.4%, making the 3.8% in the previous month pale in comparison. However, teens throughout the New York City area have been trying to take on jobs and work to support their families, and organizations have been working to make paid opportunities more accessible to those who need it.
As one of the young people who recently began a new job to help support their family, he empathizes with others who are going through the same struggle. After being laid off from his previous part-time job at the beginning of the shutdown, he was struggling to manage his expenses, specifically from college. He was one of the 4 million young people aged 16–24 that was unemployed in July this year, up from the 2.1 million last year according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I felt it instantly. I didn’t own any college stuff. Since I was working before that, I was able to keep up with my payments, but then all of a sudden I asked, how am I going to get these materials? My bank account had $25 and I was expecting my check from that same week to hit so I could purchase the materials for the next half of the semester,” he said.
Thankfully, in the months following the shutdown of the city in March, Aneudys began receiving countless emails from the government, urging him to apply for unemployment benefits and a job. He had little hope that everything would turn out fine, especially with important graduation deadlines approaching, but he applied and started a new job this summer. As a mentor and teacher for a 6-week program, he guided students through various art projects — such as decorating a mural — and inspired them to pursue artistry in the future.
“It’s not too bad because I can chill out, do my art, and anything else I need to do during the week. And then come Thursdays, I have to wake up early, and then I usually will go to work. It doesn’t really impact me negatively. If anything, I have something to look forward to every week. I work with a bunch of students and for me, it’s like my only time to socialize,” he said.
While this has not been Santana’s first time working a paid job, he expresses gratitude for the lessons this work has taught him, and being able to work part-time is a way for him to support his family.
“Even though I couldn’t help pay rent because it’s so expensive, I help out with smaller bills and phone bills, helping out when we get groceries. I’m starting to see that my parents really appreciate it. They like that I’m taking the time to try to learn how to be an adult before I move out.”
“If you start from the bottom, you get to appreciate being at the top. The best thing about starting in the working class is you get to appreciate what you have when you finally get it. And it tends to last longer because you built it up from the bottom,” said Aneudys, son of a construction worker.
For other teens in a similar situation as Aneudys, who depended on paid jobs to support their families, individuals were devastated to learn this year that one of the city’s biggest paid opportunity platforms, the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), was suspended in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
SYEP provides paid work and internships for teens ages 14–24 throughout the summer, and over 75,000 spots are given out annually. This year, all funding for the SYEP program was canceled, although the cost of running it only accounted for 0.11 percent of the city’s budget. This abrupt cancellation primarily affected people of color, with 81% of the applicants coming from a Black, Hispanic, or Asian background, and 84% originating from Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
However, at the beginning of July, a new initiative was introduced that would satisfy the CDC’s safety precautions while also allowing teens to gain work experience and income at home. The SYEP Summer Bridge Program was created during the SYEP hiatus, acting as a virtual substitute that still maintained the essential aspects of the program: career exploration, real-world work experience, and employment of low-income youth. The program lasts for five weeks from July to August, with accepted applicants receiving up to a $1,000 stipend for their efforts.
The city has also been making strides to not only support the youth, but any family who has suffered from unemployment as a result of the pandemic. For Aneudys, who receives emails from the government about unemployment benefits, he believes that the state is doing a good job of supporting those who are having a hard time transitioning.
“Right now, when you go onto the website to apply for unemployment, they tell you to please continue certifying your benefits. And then as soon as they get any information about the budget, they’ll start dropping money back into people’s accounts. I like how they’re doing that,” he said.
The second COVID-19 stimulus package expired on July 30. To date, 1.3 million Americans are still waiting for a decision as Congress has gone into recess. Compared to the 3.6% unemployment rate in April last year, the unemployment rate rose to an overwhelming 14.7% this April, almost quadrupling in size.
In a July 2020 interview with NPR, Julia Pollack, a labor economist with the job site, ZipRecruiter, she explains that “…compared with the labor market in February before COVID hit, we have seen job postings for the entry-level positions most popular among new college graduates fall by 73%.” Despite this, Aneudys is still optimistic about his life after college and future career.
“Honestly, I’m just hoping the ball keeps rolling from these jobs, or that I can find something else to keep building my experience in the art field. Like most adults told me while in high school, it kind of just happens if you make connections and always give your best at whatever job you work in,” he said.
After the conclusion of his 6-week job, Aneudys plans on pursuing a similar job that deals with teaching an illustration course. He intends to start working next week and will finish his job at the end of September.
