Jobs program too city-centric
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seated, joined by State legislators including State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, second from left, and State Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, far left, signs a bill creating "NY Youth Works," a city youth employment program (Dec. 9, 2011) Credit: AP
On Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation launching a program of training and tax credits for jobless, disadvantaged youth.
Government action to promote hiring low-income kids is a fine idea. Unfortunately, the plan leaves out some suburban young people who are badly in need of work. That's because the bill defines eligible New Yorkers as those between ages 16 and 24 who live in cities with at least 62,000 people, or in towns with at least 480,000.
On Long Island, this means low-income youth in the towns of Hempstead and Brookhaven are covered. So jobless young people in Roosevelt (part of Hempstead) are eligible. But those in Wyandanch, to cite just one example, aren't.
Inner-city poverty is tough to eradicate. But suburban poverty can be hard to eliminate as well, in part because it's often hidden, and difficult to reach even through programs like this one designed with the best of intentions.
Nor is $25 million of tax credits for employers a huge amount given that unemployment among minority youth is 35 percent to 40 percent, and 2.3 million New Yorkers in the program's age bracket are living in poverty. The new New York Youth Works program will give employers a $4,000 tax credit per full-time worker hired and retained, or $2,000 for half-time workers.
That's welcome help for thousands of young people -- if it's done right. Fortunately, at least some of them will be Long Islanders. We only wish the program covered more of them.
