Friday food for thought: the return on service
How can we feed two birds with one scone? By (1) investing in service programs that (2) empower our youth, we can strengthen our communities and state.
Kevin Frazier edits The Oregon Way and attends the UC Berkeley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2015, then worked for the State government, ECONorthwest, and Google.
It’s hard to put a price tag on something as inherently valuable as community service. But during a time of personal financial struggles and public budget shortfalls, taxpayers deserve to know their money is being well-spent.
As Congress and the Oregon State Legislature reconvene after holiday breaks, both would be wise to focus on an investment that can at once empower young people that have been particularly squeezed by the economic shocks of the pandemic as well as strengthen community bonds during a time of fragmentation.
In Oregon and across the nation, public funds should be used to increase public service opportunities, especially those tailored for young people. Every dollar spent on these types of programs, such as AmeriCorps, generates $2 by way of increased tax revenues and productivity. The total societal returns are even greater: $3.5 worth of increased human and social capital for every dollar invested in service.
Young people need these opportunities or risk becoming “disconnected” individuals who struggle to reach their potential—a bad outcome for them and society at large. Disconnected youths are those detached from both education and employment. Each day spent "disconnected" in one's youth adds to the the negative impacts experienced during adulthood; this was true in the aftermath of the Great Recession and will hold true as we emerge from our current economic struggles.
Disconnection is becoming unacceptably widespread during COVID. In terms of employment, as of November 2020, unemployment among teens (those 16 to 19 years old) was 14 percent; comparatively, unemployment topped ten percent for young adults (those between 20 and 25 years old).
From an education standpoint, a lack of Internet, retraining opportunities, and affordable higher education coursework are all barriers to young Americans deepening their stores of human capital—which are critical to them having better prospects on the other side of the downturn.
Service needs to be a norm, which is only possible if it becomes more accessible. Imagine a state and country in which “Where did you serve?” becomes a question asked as frequently as “Where did you grow up?”. When we reach that point, there will be some degree of a community-wide expectation that folks will have spent some period of time in a formal effort to help their fellow Oregonians and Americans.
The current options to serve are often only available to the affluent. The stipends afforded to participants barely qualify as a living wage in many cases. Service should not be synonymous with financial sacrifice.
To make service a norm and a path available to young adults of all backgrounds, the financial compensation package must increase to reflect the opportunity costs facing potential service members. Some novel suggestions to make service more attractive to young adults include two years of “free” higher education at a public institution for every one year of service. These ideas and others should be weighed to ensure that our service corps reflect the full diversity of young adults.
Some may doubt that in a country as individualistic as our own that any sort of mandatory or even heavily encouraged service program could ever become a reality. Those doubts may be alleviated, in part, by looking at countries such as Israel and Taiwan that share many aspects of our own society—market-based economy, democratic government, etc.—yet insist that all young people perform some service to their country and community.
I have had the good fortunate of traveling to both of the aforementioned countries and interviewing young people currently in or recently graduated from some form of service. Unsurprisingly, not every young person was overjoyed with their experience—they usually didn’t like the job they ended up in or where their service took place. But, almost across the board, folks appreciated exploring a new community, getting to meet new people, and having the time and space to learn more about what it is they want to do in the world.
These service opportunities can and should be launchpads for individuals reaching their full potential. They should be done in partnership with local organizations and leaders. They should be meaningful and require engagement with local residents. They should be long enough to train participants in new skills and change their perspectives.
If any place has the creativity required to launch such a program, I think it’s Oregon, where nearly 1,000 AmeriCorps members are already making a difference in communities around the state by serving at more than 500 locations.
Service shifts our perspective and bursts our ideological and geographical bubbles. Service also is an investment in our individual and collective well-being. Service, then, should be a priority at the state and federal level.
Have you served? In what capacity? Where? For whom? Please leave a comment sharing your experience!
Read more pieces on national service from Kevin:
Tech Crunch article
Kennedy School Review article
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