Chicago City Wire

Brandon Johnson, the Mayor-elect of Chicago, expressed his hope that his plan to increase the number of jobs available for the city's youth would help to reduce the longstanding issue of crime.

After winning the April runoff election, which was primarily focused on concerns about crime, Johnson released a statement emphasizing the importance of providing employment opportunities for young people in Chicago.

“We want to prevent violence in the city of Chicago — so making sure that youth hiring doubles, so that it’s not just for summer hiring, but it’s year-round,” Johnson said.

As per a recent study by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the unemployment rate for 16 to 19-year-olds in Chicago is almost 15 percentage points higher than the national average. Unfortunately, the rate is even higher for Black teenagers in the same age group.

The program, One Summer Chicago (OSC), has faced challenges in returning to its pre-pandemic capacity. Last summer, the program employed only 20,544 young people in paid positions, which is less than half of the total number of program applicants. This is also over 11,000 fewer than the number of participants in 2019, where the figure represented nearly all of the individuals who applied that year.

The incoming Chicago Mayor plans to double the number of young people in the city's summer employment program and is meeting with corporations to encourage them to hire more young people this season.

With the goal of increasing the number of 14-to-24-year-olds participating in the city's summer employment program, the individual who won over 51% of the vote to replace outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has already begun his efforts. His leadership transition team is currently meeting with corporations throughout the city to encourage them to hire more young people this season.