Dropping out of high school is a serious problem in the United States, one that social workers can help to solve. According to the 2015 Ed.gov article, “U.S. High School Graduation Rate Hits New Record High,” more students are graduating than “ever before” with a graduation rate that hit 81 percent in 2012-13. Despite the fact that the amount of dropouts is increasing, it is still an issue that can be further improved through efforts to spot at-risk students early and help them with any problems at school or at home. Social workers are an important link between home and school and can work to keep students from giving up.
According to Elizabeth Stearns and Elizabeth J. Glennie, some risk factors for dropping out of high school include being …show more content…
77). They identify individual costs as “lower earnings, higher likelihood of unemployment, and greater likelihood of health problems” and societal costs as “loss of tax revenue, higher spending on public assistance, and higher crime rates” (p. 77). They explain that dropouts do not contribute as much to taxes due to lower incomes and employment rates, which affects the national economy (p. 87). They estimate that dropouts pay approximately 42 percent of what graduates pay in federal and state income taxes each year, and a large amount of dropouts receive financial assistance, increasing spending on social service programs (p. 87). In 2007, “more than half of all 16-19 year old high school dropouts had no paid employment” (Bloom, p. 91). As for those who do have employment, the average yearly income of those without a diploma were $13,255 for women and $22,151 for men, versus $20,650 for women with a diploma and $31,715 for men (p. 86). These numbers show that those who have not graduated can experience significant loss of income and job opportunities. There also appears to be a correlation between crime and dropping out. Tyler and Lofstrom support this by stating that “68 percent of the nation’s state prison inmates are dropouts” including “62 percent of white inmates, 69 percent of black inmates, and 78 percent of Hispanic inmates” (p. 88). These are only some of many ramifications that an individual and society can suffer as a result of dropping
According to Elizabeth Stearns and Elizabeth J. Glennie, some risk factors for dropping out of high school include being …show more content…
77). They identify individual costs as “lower earnings, higher likelihood of unemployment, and greater likelihood of health problems” and societal costs as “loss of tax revenue, higher spending on public assistance, and higher crime rates” (p. 77). They explain that dropouts do not contribute as much to taxes due to lower incomes and employment rates, which affects the national economy (p. 87). They estimate that dropouts pay approximately 42 percent of what graduates pay in federal and state income taxes each year, and a large amount of dropouts receive financial assistance, increasing spending on social service programs (p. 87). In 2007, “more than half of all 16-19 year old high school dropouts had no paid employment” (Bloom, p. 91). As for those who do have employment, the average yearly income of those without a diploma were $13,255 for women and $22,151 for men, versus $20,650 for women with a diploma and $31,715 for men (p. 86). These numbers show that those who have not graduated can experience significant loss of income and job opportunities. There also appears to be a correlation between crime and dropping out. Tyler and Lofstrom support this by stating that “68 percent of the nation’s state prison inmates are dropouts” including “62 percent of white inmates, 69 percent of black inmates, and 78 percent of Hispanic inmates” (p. 88). These are only some of many ramifications that an individual and society can suffer as a result of dropping