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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: October 21, 2013

American Youth Not Employed or in School

New report finds 6M American youth neither working nor in school, Associated Press, October 21, 2013, Newsday: “Almost 6 million young people are neither in school nor working, according to a study released Monday. That’s almost 15 percent of those aged 16 to 24 who have neither desk nor job, according to The Opportunity Nation coalition, which wrote the report. Other studies have shown that idle young adults are missing out on a window to build skills they will need later in life or use the knowledge they acquired in college. Without those experiences, they are less likely to command higher salaries and more likely to be an economic drain on their communities…”

Low-Income Students in Public Schools

  • Almost half of Michigan public school students living in low-income households, study shows, By Brian Smith, October 20, 2013, MLive: “A new study shows that 46 percent of Michigan’s public school children live in low-income households, part of an increasing trend nationwide.The study, published by the Southern Education Foundation, found that a majority of public school students across the Southeast and West live in low-income households, defined in the study as households eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program.Mississippi had the highest percentage, at 71 percent of all public school children, followed closely by New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas…”
  • Study sounds alarm over percentage of low-income students in public schools, By Karen McVeigh, October 17, 2013, The Guardian: “For the first time since the 1960s, a majority of the children in public schools in the South and West of the United States come from families living below, at or not far above the poverty line, according to a new study. The study’s findings are part of a trend that is set to continue across the nation. While the percentage of low-income students in public schools has grown across the nation over the last 20 years, there are now 17 states in which they represent the majority. Thirteen of those states are in the South; four are in the West…”