 Recessions say younger workers hard. We know that, but the COVID-driven recession has been especially bad. Here's why. At the height of the recession, one in four workers ages 16 to 24 were unemployed. More than double the rate for workers 25 and up. Those rates were even higher for young black Hispanic and Asian American Pacific Islander workers. If you count people who are unable to find full-time work or have recently given up looking, the numbers jumped to more than one in three. 35% of young workers are underemployed versus 15% of older workers. Why is this happening? Young workers are disproportionately employed in the industries that the pandemic hit hardest, hospitality, leisure, and retail. And they are a lot less likely to have jobs where they can telework. And young workers have been specifically excluded from COVID relief policies. They were intentionally left out of certain provisions of the CARES Act and they weren't able to take advantage of unemployment insurance expansions if they didn't already have a job. Young workers and everyone else need a massive government policy response to confront the situation. Bigger than the policy response during the Great Recession because this recession is worse. If that doesn't happen, younger workers are likely to be set back for years to come.