High School Dropouts Face Higher Imprisonment Rates

According to a new study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates. In considering the close relationship between dropout rates and unemployment rates, the study found that 54 percent of dropouts ages 16 to 24 were jobless, compared with 32 percent for high school graduates of the same age, and 13 percent for those with a college degree. The statistics were worse for young African-American dropouts, whose unemployment rate last year was 69 percent, compared with 54 percent for whites and 47 percent for Hispanics. The unemployment rate among young Hispanics was lower, the report said, because included in that category were many illegal immigrants, who compete successfully for jobs with native-born youths. Incidentally, a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of data from the 2000 U.S. Census found that Only 8 percent of the nation's teens are foreign born, but nearly 25 percent of teen school dropouts were born outside the United States. You can read more details about the Center for Labor Market Studies report in this article by the New York Times.