New Guinn Center Report Examines Youth Outcomes

The Guinn Center released a report titled “Youth Outcomes in Nevada.” This report summarizes key demographic indicators for youth in Nevada. The report also presents data for various outcomes among youth in the areas of employment, health, substance abuse and educational attainment.

Here are some key findings:

• Nevada has a relatively young population. Approximately one-third (32 percent) of Nevada’s population is between the ages of 0-24 years.
• Young adults in Nevada are less likely than the national average to have completed some college or to have obtained a bachelor’s degree.
• In general, the unemployment rate for youth tends to be higher than for older adults. In 2019, before the pandemic, approximately 10.0 percent of Nevada’s workforce aged 20 to 24 was unemployed. This was higher than the unemployment rate for any older age group and higher than the statewide average 2019 unemployment rate of 4.0 percent. During the pandemic, the youth unemployment rate increased from 10.0 percent in 2019 to 22.6 percent in 2020.
• Nearly 25.0 percent of Nevada’s rural youth aged 14-18 live in poverty, compared to approximately 15.0 percent of urban youth aged 14-18.
• Only 53.0 percent of children ages 0-17 had both a medical and dental preventive care visit in the past 12 months, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nevada ranked 51st in the country in children accessing medical and dental preventive care.
• In 2019, more than 16.0 percent of rural Nevadans and 18.0 percent of urban Nevadans aged 19-24 lacked health insurance.
• Youth aged 18-25 in Nevada reported experiencing serious mental illness in the past year at rates higher than respondents aged 26 or older (roughly eight percent compared to four percent). Only 7 percent of Nevada youth aged 0-17 received any mental health care/counseling during the past 12 months, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nevada ranked 50th in the country and well below many of its peer states in the Intermountain West.

The report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “Community Voices for Health” project, which seeks to improve health outcomes among community members.

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