Definitions:
Teenagers between ages 16 and 19 who are not enrolled in school (full- or part-time) and not employed (full - or part-time). This measure is sometimes referred to as “Idle Teens” or “Disconnected Youth.”
Data Source:
Data for this measure come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Fact Finder, 2005-2007, 2006-2008, 2007-2009 and 2008-2010 American Community Survey (ACS) 3-Year Estimates.
Footnotes:
The 2008-2010 ACS data release marked the fourth time that 3-year estimates were released for areas with populations of 20,000 and greater. The ACS 2008-2010 data were collected during calendar years 2008, 2009, and 2010. The ACS 2007-2009 data were collected during calendar years 2007, 2008, and 2009. The ACS 2006-2008 data were collected during calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. The ACS 2005-2007 data were collected during calendar years 2005, 2006 and 2007.
The 3-year ACS estimates represent the average characteristics over the 3-year period of time, and therefore are less current than 1-year ACS estimates. However, these estimates are more reliable because they are based on a larger sample size. The 3-year estimates are also available for more geographic areas because they are published for populations of 20,000 or greater, while 1-year estimates are only published for populations of 65,000 or greater. More information about 1-year versus 3-year ACS surveys and estimates are available online at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/myeoverview.html.