Health disparities continue to fall upon the Black, brown, and underrepresented communities across the United States, but how does that affect our own youth here in San Diego County?
To answer that question, the Policy Innovation Center put together nearly 20 years’ worth of data into the Youth Well-Being Report, designed to point out where San Diego is doing right by its youth, and where it can do better.
Funded by the San Diego Foundation, Prebys Foundation, and the City of San Diego Child and Youth Success, the report examines educational access, mental and physical health, and economic stability among those ages 0-24.
As shown in the report, some consistent areas of inequality include:
- Close to 40% of SDUSD high school students reported peer isolation in 2023. Disparities were most noticeable by race and sexual orientation: 49% of Black students (compared to 28% of White students) and 56% of gay and lesbian students (compared to 36% of bisexual students) reported not feeling close to people at their school.
- Wide disparities persisted in college enrollment and graduation rates by race, with 88% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) young adults and only 46% of Black young adults in San Diego County meeting this milestone in 2023. Widening gaps by sex have developed over time, with 73% of San Diego County women and 57% of men ages 18- to 24-years either enrolled or having obtained a college degree in 2023
- The percentage of youth in households making family-sustaining wages varied widely by racial group (68% of White youth and 22% of Black youth), as well as by immigrant status (50% for non-immigrants, 34% for immigrants) in San Diego County.
- More than 95% of San Diego County high school students graduated in 2023, yet Black and Hispanic students remained far more likely to attend high-poverty schools than their White peers.
Behind each statistic or data point is an actual child affected by the conditions and circumstances which shape their success. When the report went live on June 18th, a press conference was held at the Park de la Cruz Skate Park & Playground in City Heights, and youth advocates took the podium to share how the data findings reflected their own experiences as students in San Diego.
“In middle school, I was considered an at-risk youth. I started high school during COVID… Isolation and mental health challenges affected many of my peers and me,” San Diego State University student Karlo Vazquez Melendez shared. “I wasn’t always the best student. I was still figuring out who I wanted to be. But what made a difference wasn’t being told what I couldn’t do. It was people who took the time to mentor me, challenge me, and see my potential.”
“What these findings ultimately represent are signals. They’re symptoms of larger systems, of a larger community, of larger choices. And they remind us that youth well-being does not happen in isolation, nor in happenstance…Youth well-being is not the responsibility of a single actor in the system, it requires all community solutions.” Dr. Novien Yarber, Senior Learning Officer of the Prebys Foundation explained at the press conference.
This report provides policymakers, educators, and service providers a roadmap on where to focus their attention and implement change for the young people here in San Diego. As more data is released, the report’s interactive web platform will also be updated.
“We really hope that people use this report as a starting point,” Policy and Innovation Center’s lead report author and director of research, Alicia L. Jurek, shared with the Voice & Viewpoint. “People who work with children can use this to effect change on a policy scale. But there are things that everyday people can do, which is listen to the young people in their lives. Not just listen, but proactively reach out, check in and ask, ‘How are you doing?’”
To view the full report, go to thinkpic.org/youth-wellbeing
