On June 15, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Expanding Apprenticeships in America.” The title naturally elicited chuckles from the entertainment and education establishments because it was “The Apprentice” television show that introduced Trump the “CEO” to millions of people in the United States and abroad for the first time.

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My AEI colleague Nicholas Eberstadt notes in “Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis” that the work rate — the ratio of employment to population — in 2015 was 84.4%. In 1940, the work rate was 86.4%, which was near the end of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, approximately 7 million men between the ages of 25–54 are not even looking for a job today. But men are not the only ones feeling the pinch of the labor market. A Council of Economic Advisers report indicated the job participation rate was 75% for prime-age women in 2015. A more depressing story arises when you disaggregate data by race or education attainment.

Another AEI colleague, Bob Doar, and his co-authors believe a strong apprenticeship program is one approach to address this problem, I believe for men and women.

So, what is the state of apprenticeship programs in America?

According to the US Department of Labor, more than 21,000 registered apprenticeship programs were in operation in 2016. Approximately 500,000 people participated in a paid apprenticeship and 49,000 graduated from one. Construction had the highest number of apprentices at 144,583, followed by the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program — a training program for active-duty Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps service members — at 95,001, and manufacturing at 14,422. California (48,770), New York (16,124), and my home state of Virginia (17,142) lead the nation with the number of active apprentices.

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