Youth jobs & fellowships

Paid, year-round and school-year work, internships and fellowships that give Boston teens and young adults income and work experience.

Residents consistently ask for paid, year-round youth jobs with fair pay, especially for youth of color, low-income and immigrant teens, plus trade and career pathways.

Theme grouped and summary written with AI from this theme's resident ideas.

192 ideas across three cycles

Ideas in this theme by cycle, with share of all ideas and rank among 20 themes
Cycle	Ideas	Share of all ideas	Rank
2024–25	77	6.3%	4 of 20
2025–26	23	1.9%	19 of 20
2026–27	92	6.9%	5 of 20

Needs that keep coming back

Year-round paid youth jobs
Residents want youth work that lasts the full year rather than a short summer or eight-month season, with 2024-25 ideas often asking for $18-24 an hour.
Raised in 2024–25, 2025–26, 2026–27
2024–25: Year-round well-paid youth jobs up to age 24 2025–26: Year-round funded youth jobs 2026–27: Fund year-round youth jobs
Income and equity for families of color and low-income families
Many ideas say youth jobs help Black, brown and low-income young people support their households and gain fair access to work experience.
Raised in 2024–25, 2025–26, 2026–27
2024–25: Pilot year-round youth employment at $18-24/hour 2025–26: Expand Immigrant Youth Advancement program to 10 months 2026–27: Fund school-year youth jobs
Trade, career exploration and skills training
Residents ask for free trade classes, career exposure and vocational pathways so young people can reach skilled work.
Raised in 2024–25, 2025–26, 2026–27
2024–25: Free trade training for young people 2025–26: Promote trade school and other alternatives to college 2026–27: Free trade classes for youth
Longer fellowships and jobs for immigrant youth
Residents want immigrant youth to have longer, paid, school-year programs with stipends, mentorship and work experience.
Raised in 2025–26, 2026–27
2025–26: Extend immigrant youth program to ten months 2025–26: Year-round employment pathway for newly arrived immigrant teens 2026–27: $500,000 for school-year youth jobs and paid fellowships

2024–25

Nearly all of the 77 ideas called for year-round youth jobs paying $18-24 an hour, often as a pilot, and asked the City to use the full $5 million set aside for participatory budgeting.

2025–26

Only 23 ideas came in, scattered across topics, with a clear cluster asking to extend the 10-week Immigrant Youth Advancement fellowship to 10 months.

2026–27

Most of the 92 ideas asked to restore a $500,000 budget cut for school-year youth jobs and fellowships at community organizations, including for immigrant youth.

New in 2026–27

New in 2026-27 are asks to restore a specific $500,000 cut to school-year jobs, put youth jobs in the city budget instead of philanthropy, offer winter jobs, and expand PowerCorps-style programs, plus one objection to limits on youth job applications.

Funding so far

The one winning project, Youth Financial Literacy and Empowerment Workshops ($250,000), serves youth at job sites but does not fund jobs, so year-round paid jobs, school-year jobs and immigrant youth fellowships, and free trade training are not yet addressed by a winning project.

Projects are linked to themes by matching each project's description to the themes; this is not an official City classification.

Youth Financial Literacy and Empowerment Workshops
2025–26 · $250,000 · related theme
This proposal provides financial literacy workshops at youth job sites, local events, and colleges for young people ages 14-24.

All funded projects

Departments that often lead this work

Office of Workforce Development
BCYF
Boston Public Schools

Suggested with AI; not an official assignment of responsibility.

Ideas in Youth jobs & fellowships

192 ideas

2024–25: 77 · 2025–26: 23 · 2026–27: 92