4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 386 



The Employment of Rural Youth 



Practically all of the boys and girls who were out of school were employed last 

 year. Only one of the boys and eight of the girls were unemployed for the entire 

 year. Not all the jobs were full-time and many of the full-time jobs were of brief 

 duration. This indicates that underemployment rather than unemployment is 

 the most serious problem of these young people. As part-time jobs and summer 

 cmplo\ment are significant for rural youths of all ages, vocational and other 

 educational training should be adapted to meet these needs. 



Opportunities to find employment varied greatly among the local communities 

 studied. In towns adjacent to urban centers such as Worcester, New Bedford, 

 Taunton, Attleboro, and Pittsfield, chances for off-farm employment were greater. 

 In the more isolated farming communities considerable variation was found in 

 the number of available farm jobs, either at home or on farms away from home, 

 and in the average rates of pay for farm work. These differences were reflected 

 in the \arying degrees to which the young folks wanted to leave their home 

 communities. The girls, for example, were more an.\ious to get to the city, 

 because they had fewer chances for rural employment than the boys. 



Figure 2 

 PLACEMENT METHODS 



Each symbol represents 10 percent 



Apparently only the most meager placement service was available for these 

 young people. Two-thirds of the boys and more than half of the girls obtained 

 their jobs through friends or relatives. A fifth were placed by school teachers and 

 about the same proportion obtained their jobs by personal application. Voca- 

 tional agricultural schools provided a fairly effective placement service for their 

 students. Although much can be said for the spirit of individualism that it un- 

 doubtedly fosters, this reliance upon a small circle of friends and acquaintances 

 can not best serve the placement needs of the majority of boys and girls in a 

 community. Obviously considerable attention should be given to the placement 

 question, as a young person's first job frequently determines his lifework. 



Most of these young people were dissatisfied with their present employment and 

 only one-fourth believed their jobs afforded opportunities for advancement. 

 One possible explanation lies in the small incomes they received. Only six youths 



