The following is shared from The Broken Marketplace:

To better understand the needs, attributes and experiences of young adults, we analyzed demographic, circumstantial and psychological factors among those in our sample between 18 and 24 years old. We grouped them into five distinct segments that reflect similar challenges and opportunities to help those working with young adults to better target interventions. The segments are not principally defined by demographics, nor are they intended to represent a continuum of progress.

Those five segments include

• Burdened Seekers: burdened by hardship, they move forward even when the path isn’t clear. 90% are in low-income households, and 43% have struggled with food accessed. 28% are fully disconnected, meaning neither enrolled in school nor employed.
• Skeptical Explorers: stuck, languishing, but not broken – just tired of paths that don’t add up. 44% say they have no one to help them reach their goals, despite most living at home. 64% are employed, but 40% work multiple jobs.
• Supported Pathfinders: they have the resources and the support, but a quiet uncertainty holds them back. 91% live with their parents, and 79% are enrolled in school or training. 47% report mental health struggles.
• Pressured Providers: industrious and balancing demands, building under pressure, and defying the odds. 50% are first- or second-generation Americans. 29% are overstretched, working and in school full-time.
• Confident Builders: motivated and goal-oriented, with a clear sense of where they’re headed – taking steady steps toward the future. 54% know exactly what drives them and 22% prioritize starting a business in the next five years.

Learn more and download the full report, America’s School-to-Work Crisis, here.