Origins
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the huge numbers of unemployed youth provoked fear of the unstable future of America. In 1936, Alden Krider painted the picture on the NYA, trying to depict its purpose. The painting's shadowy background represents some of the problems and temptations faced by young people during the Depression: crime, poverty, gambling, and homelessness. In the foreground, Krider shows the various types of beneficial employment provided by the NYA. Roosevelt hoped to give some structure to the young people's lives, cut crime, and unemployment by implementing this program in 1935.
Actions
In order to encourage higher employment rates and higher education, the NYA worked with high schools and colleges and provided grants to schools that would employ their students in some way. This allowed for students to continue studying, while also not contributing to the pool of unemployed youth. For young people who did not attend high school or college and were unemployed, the NYA combined economic relief with on-the-job training so that the young people could receive vital marketing skills that would help them with their jobs later in life.