Nearly 170,000 of New York City’s youth, aged 16 to 24, are not in school, not working, and not looking for work, according to a new study from the Community Service Society of New York. That puts the city’s youth “disconnection” rate at about 16 percent—one in six, says Mark Levitan, author of the report. New York’s young men have been hardest hit: Their disconnection rate is more than double the national average, while young women are only modestly above it. Why the striking difference between genders? Welfare reform and immigration made the low-skill labor market more competitive, more young mothers entered the workplace, and traditionally male jobs, like manufacturing, have been shrinking rapidly. [1/24/05]