The Consequences of
Dropping Out of High School
Joblessness and Jailing for High School Dropouts
and the High Cost for Taxpayers
22% Daily Jailing Rate for Young Black Men Who Drop
Out of High School

Prepared By
Andrew Sum
Ishwar Khatiwada
Joseph McLaughlin
With
Sheila Palma
Center for Labor Market Studies
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts

October 2009

Introduction
The economic, social, and moral case for addressing the nation’s existing high school
dropout problems was made in a report titled Left Behind in America: The Nation’s Dropout
Crisis.1 This report called upon the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration to enact
legislation to support programs at the local and state level to re-enroll existing high school
dropouts to enable them to improve their academic achievement skills, obtain their high school
diplomas or their equivalents, and bolster their employability through work experience and
training. The nation’s young dropouts experience a wide array of labor market, earnings, social
and income problems that exacerbate their ability to transition to careers and stable marriages
from their mid-20s onward. This new research paper was prepared to outline the employment,
earnings, incarceration, teen and young adult parenting experiences and family incomes of the
nation’s young adult high school dropouts and their better educated peers in 2006 to 2008.
Young high school dropouts confront a number of labor market problems in their late
teens and early 20s.2 They are less likely to be active labor force participants than their better
educated peers, and they frequently experience considerably higher unemployment rates when
they do seek work. As a consequence, they are much less likely to be employed than their better
educated peers across the nation, and gaps typically widen as national labor markets deteriorate
such as during the current recession. The employment rates of the nation’s 16-24 year old, outof-school youth by their educational attainment in 2008 are displayed in Chart 1. These
estimated employment rates are annual averages. Slightly less than 46 percent of the nation’s
young high school dropouts were employed on average during 2008. This implies an average
joblessness rate during 2008 of 54% for the nation for young high school dropouts. Their
employment rate was 22 percentage points below that of high school graduates, 33 percentage
points below that of young adults who had completed 1-3 years of post-secondary schooling, and
41 percentage points below that of their peers who held a four year college degree. Young high
1

See: Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University and the Chicago Alternative Schools Network, Left
Behind in America: The Nation’s Dropout Crisis, Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, April 2009.
2
For earlier analysis of the labor market, income, and social problems of young and older high school dropouts at
the national and state levels, see: (i) Andrew Sum, Neeta Fogg, and Garth Mangum, Confronting the Youth
Demographic Challenge: The Labor Market Prospects of Out-of-School Youth, Sar Levitan Center for Social Policy
Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 2000; (ii) Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada, Joseph McLaughlin, et.
al., The Labor Market, Income, Social, Civic, Health, and Fiscal Consequences of Dropping Out of High School:
Findings for Michigan Adults in the 21st Century, Report Prepared for the C.S. Mott Foundation, Flint, Michigan,
2008.

school dropouts were only about one-half as likely to be working as those youth holding a
bachelor’s or higher degree in 2008.
Chart 1:
Employment Rates of 16-24 Year Old Out-of-School Youth in the U.S. By Educational
Attainment, 2008 (Annual Averages in %)
100
86.7

90
78.8

80
68.1

70

%

60
50

45.7

40
30
20
10
0
H.S. Dropout

H.S. Graduate

1-3 Years of College

B.A. or Higher Degree

Educational Attainment

Source: January-December 2008 CPS Surveys, tabulations by authors.

The employment rates of the nation’s young high school dropouts varied across gender,
race-ethnic, and household income groups. Black dropouts were the least likely to be employed
(31%) followed by Asians (43%), Whites (46%), and Hispanics (53%) (Chart 2). This implies a
jobless rate for Blacks of 69 % followed by Asians at 57 %, Whites at 54 % and Hispanics at 47
%. The above average employment rates of Hispanic dropouts primarily reflect the sharply
higher employment rates of young Hispanic immigrants, many of whom were undocumented
immigrants. Earlier national research has shown that higher levels of new immigration in a state
tend to significantly reduce the employment rates of the nation’s teens and young adults,
especially males, non-college educated youth, and native born Black and Hispanic males with
limited post-secondary schooling.3

3

See: Andrew Sum, Paul Harrington, and Ishwar Khatiwada, The Labor Market and Educational Progress of
America’s Young Adults Since the Publication of America’s Choice, Report Prepared for the New Commission on
the Skills of America’s Workforce, Washington, D.C., 2006.

Chart 2:
Employment Rates of 16-24 Year Old High School Dropouts in the U.S., By Race-Ethnic
Group, 2008 (in %)
60
53.1
50

46.1
42.6

40

%

31.4
30

20

10

0
Black

Asian

White, Not Hispanic

Hispanic

Race-Ethnic Group

Source: January-December 2008 CPS Surveys, tabulations by authors.

The employment rates of young high school dropouts as well as teenagers and 20-24 year
olds in general also vary with the annual incomes of the families in which they live. Young high
school dropouts living in low income families (annual income under $20,000) were least likely
(38%) to be employed in 2008. As their family incomes increased, they were more likely to be
working, with their employment rates ranging from 47% for those in families with incomes
between $20,000 and $40,000 to a high of 55% for those residing in families with incomes
between $75,000 and $100,000.

Chart 3:
Percent of 16-24 Year Old High School Dropouts in the U.S. Who Were Employed in
2008 By Their Household Income (in $1,000)
60
53

55

50
50

%

40

47

39

30

20

10

0
<20K

20-40K

40-60K

60-75K

75-100K

Household Income

Source: January-December 2008 CPS Surveys, tabulations by authors.

The below average monthly employment rates of the nation’s young high school dropouts
do not simply reflect a higher turnover rate of dropouts from the ranks of the employed during
the year and more frequent part year employment. Young dropouts also contain a
disproportionate share of individuals who were jobless throughout the entire calendar year. The
March 2008 CPS work experience and income supplement to the standard March CPS survey
collected information on the employment experiences and annual earnings from employment
(wages and salaries plus self-employment income) of all sample household members 16 and
older. We analyzed the work experience data for all 16-24 year olds to identify the percent of
youth who worked at some time in calendar year 2007. The findings revealed that only 60
percent of the nation’s 16-24 year old dropouts worked at some point during the year (Table 1).
This implies a year-round joblessness rate of 40% among these young high school dropouts.
Among their better educated peers, those with some paid employment ranged from just under
80% among high school graduates to highs of 88 to 89 percent among those completing at least
some post-secondary schooling.

Table 1:
Percent of Out-of-School 16-24 Year Olds Who Worked At Some Point in 2007 and
Their 2007 Mean Annual Earnings* by Educational Attainment, U.S.

Educational Attainment
High School Dropout
High School Graduate
1-3 Years of College
Bachelor's or Higher Degree
All

(A)
Percent Who
Worked
60.4
79.0
87.7
89.4
78.4

(B)
Mean Annual
Earnings*
$8,358
$14,601
$18,283
$24,797
$15,149

Note: (*) Mean annual earnings include those with no paid work experience during the year.
Source: March 2008 CPS Supplement, public use files, tabulations by authors.

As a result of their high levels of joblessness and low weekly earnings while employed,
the mean annual earnings of the nation’s young dropouts in 2007 were only $8,358 well below
the average of $15,149 for all young adults (Table 1, Column B). High school graduates with no
years of post-secondary schooling achieved mean earnings of somewhat over $14,600 while
those with a bachelor’s degree obtained mean earnings of approximately $24,800, three times as
high as that of young high school dropouts. Over the past few decades, the mean cumulative
earnings of male high school dropouts over their working life from ages 18-64 have declined
considerably, reducing their marriage rates, home ownership rates, and their fiscal contributions
to federal, state, and local governments.

Educational Attainment and Teen and Young Adult Parenting
Teen and young adult women parenting tend to be negatively correlated with their levels
of formal schooling, educational expectations, and academic achievement. The findings of the
2006 and 2007 American Community Surveys were used to estimate the percent of young
women ages 16-24 who were mothers at the time of the survey; i.e., had given birth to one or
more children. Overall, 13.5% of the 18.6 million women ages 16-24 were mothers. The share of
women who were mothers varied quite considerably across educational attainment/ school
enrollment groups, ranging from a low of 3.5% among high school students, to 6% among
Bachelor’s degree holders, to just less than 30% among high school graduates to a high of nearly
38% among those women who lacked a high school diploma (Chart 4). Young female dropouts

were six times as likely to have given birth as their peers who were college students or four year
college graduates.
Chart 4:
Percent of 16-24 Year Old Women in the U.S. Who Were Mothers By Educational Attainment/
School Enrollment Status, 2006-2007 Averages
40

37.8

35
29.8

30
25.8

%

25
20
15
10
6.4

6.1
5

3.5

0
H.S. Students

College Students

B.A. Degree

Some College

H.S. Grad.

H.S. Dropout

School Enrollment/ Educational Attainment

Source: 2006-2007 American Community Surveys, public use files, tabulations by authors.

Of those young women who had become mothers, 60 percent were not married at the
time of the ACS surveys. Mothers who were dropouts had a very similar incidence of single
parenting . Multiplying the share of young women who were mothers by the fraction who were
unmarried yields estimates of the fraction of women who were single mothers at the time of the
2006-2007 American Community Surveys. Overall, 8 percent of the nation’s 16-24 year old
women were single mothers in 2006-2007. The share of these women who were single mothers
varied from lows of 2 to 3 percent among high school students and Bachelor’s degree holders to
highs of 17 percent among high school graduates and just under 23 percent among high school
dropouts (Chart 5). Young high school dropouts were nearly 9 times as likely to have become
single mothers as their counterparts with bachelor degrees. A very high share of these young

unwed mothers lacking high school diplomas were poor/ near poor and dependent on
government assistance and in-kind transfers to support themselves and their children.

Chart 5:
Percent of 16-24 Year Old Women in the U.S. Who Were Single Mothers By Educational
Attainment/ School Enrollment Status, 2006-2007
25.0
22.6

20.0
17.5

15.0
%

14.0

10.0

4.1

5.0
2.3

2.6

H.S. Students

B.A. Degree

0.0
College
Students

Some College

H.S. Grad.

H.S. Dropout

School Enrollment/ Educational Attainment

Source: 2006-2007 American Community Surveys, public use files, tabulations by authors.

The Incarceration Rates of 16-24 Year Old Dropouts in the U.S. and Those of
Their Better Educated Peers
During the past two decades, there has been explosive growth in the number of adults
who were inmates of the nation’s correctional institutions (local, state, and federal prisons and
jails).4 In 2008, approximately one in one-hundred U.S. adults were housed in such correctional
institutions, a substantial share of whom were young (under 30) and male.5 Since 2006, the
American Community Surveys have conducted interviews with residents of group quarters,

4

See: (i) Bruce Western, Punishment and Inequality in America, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 2006; (ii)
Devah Pager, Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration, The University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, 2007.
5
See: Pew Center for Research on the States, One in 100, Washington, D.C., 2008.

including correctional institutions. Data from the 2006 and 2007 ACS surveys were analyzed to
identify the number of 16-24 year olds across the nation in selected educational attainment
groups who were institutionalized.6
During the 2006-2007 time period, 1.4% of the nation’s 16-24 year olds (men and women
combined) were institutionalized of whom nearly 93% were residing in correctional facilities
(jails, prisons, juvenile detention centers). The share of these young adults who were
institutionalized varied widely across educational attainment/ schooling groups with high school
dropouts being the most likely to be incarcerated. Only 1 in 1,000 bachelor degree holders were
institutionalized versus .7% of out-of-school adults who completed 1-3 years of post-secondary
schooling, 1.0% of high school graduates, and 6.3% of high school dropouts lacking a GED
certificate. The incidence of institutionalization problems among young high school dropouts
was more than 63 times higher than among young four year college graduates.
Chart 6
Percent of the Nation's 16-24 Year Olds Who Were Institutionalized in 2006-2007 By School
Enrollment/ Educational Attainment Group
7
6.3
6

5

%

4

3
1.8

2
1.0
1

0.7
0.1

0.2

0
B.A. Degree or College Students
Higher

1-3 Years of
College

H.S. Grad.

H.S. Students

H.S. Dropouts

School Enrollment/ Educational Attainment

6

The U.S. Census Bureau does not identify the specific type of institution in which an individual was housed at the
time of the ACS survey. A small fraction of institutionalized young adults were living in long term healthcare
facilities (nursing homes, mental hospitals), but the vast majority (93%) were residing in adult correctional
institutions and juvenile detention facilities.

Approximately 90 percent of the inmates of correctional institutions were males in recent
years. Given the high degree of concentration of imprisonment problems among males, we
conducted a separate analysis of the incarceration rates of young males by their school
enrollment/ educational attainment status (Chart 7). Here again, the incarceration rates of these
young males are found to vary considerably with their educational attainment. Nearly 1 of every
10 young male high school dropouts was institutionalized on a given day in 2006-2007 versus
fewer than 1 of 33 high school graduates, 1 of 100 of those out-of-school young men who
completed 1-3 years of post-secondary schooling, and only 1 of 500 men who held a bachelor’s
or higher degree.
Chart 7:
Percent of 16-24 Year Old Males in the U.S. Who Were Institutionalized in 2006-2007 By
Selected School Enrollment/ Educational Attainment Group
10

9.4

9
8
7

%

6
5
4
2.8

3
2

1.5
1.1

1
0.2

0.4

0
B.A. Degree or College Students
Higher

1-3 Years of
College

H.S. Grad.

H.S. Students

H.S. Dropouts

School Enrollment/ Educational Attainment Group

For men in each race-ethnic group, incarceration rates were highest among high school
dropouts. Among the nation’s male high school dropouts, however, institutionalization rates
were considerably higher among young Black men than they were among members of the other

three major race-ethnic groups. Approximately 23 of every 100 young Black male adults were
institutionalized versus only 6 to 7 of every 100 Asians, Hispanics, and Whites (Chart 8).
Chart 8:
Percent of 16-24 Year Old Male High School Dropouts in the U.S. Who Were Incarcerated in
Juvenile Homes, Jails, and Prisons in 2006-2007 by Race-Ethnic Group
25
22.9

20

%

15

10
6.1

7.2

6.6

5

0
Hispanic

White, Not Hispanic

Asian

Black, Not Hispanic

Race-Ethnic Group

In every race-ethnic group, young male dropouts were overwhelmingly more likely to be
incarcerated than their peers who graduated from a four year college or university. For all young
males, high school dropouts were 47 times more likely to be incarcerated than their similar aged
peers who held a four year college degree. The relative odds were very substantial among Blacks
(38*), Whites (66*), and Asians (72*) (Table 2). In remarks to a 2006 Chicago conference on
high school dropout problems in Illinois, then State Senate President Emil Jones noted that
“Dropping out of high school was an apprenticeship for prison.” Those remarks, unfortunately,
describe the actual situation for the nation’s young minority men with a high degree of accuracy.
Given the severe labor market difficulties faced by many young male dropouts, ex-offenders
with limited formal schooling and academic proficiencies run the highest risk of becoming
recidivists and imposing large incarceration, probation, and parole costs on the rest of society.

Table 2:
The Incidence of Incarceration Rates Among 16-24 Year Old Male High School Dropouts and
Those With a Bachelor’s or Higher Degree By Race-Ethnic Group

All
Asian
Black
Hispanic
White

(A)

(B)

H.S. Dropouts
9.4
7.2
22.9
6.1
6.6

B.A. Degree
0.2
0.1
0.6
0.9
0.1

(C)
H.S. Dropouts/
B.A. Degree
47*
72*
38*
7*
66*

The Income Inadequacy Problems of the Families of the Nation’s Young
Dropouts
A relatively high fraction of the nation’s young high school dropouts were raised as
adolescents in families that frequently experienced severe income inadequacy problems. Given
the limited earnings potential of many young high school dropouts, comparatively few of them
have the economic resources to form independent households, including young mothers. Many
young dropouts remain living at home with their parents or other relatives in families with
limited annual incomes.7 In 2006-2007, one of every five of the nation’s young adults was
residing in families that were classified as either poor or near poor (under 125% of the federal
government’s official poverty income thresholds). The incidence of these severe income
inadequacy problems was highest by far among young high school dropouts, with nearly 37 of
every 100 dropouts living in poor/ near poor families. The incidence of such poverty/ near
poverty problems declined steadily with the level of formal schooling of the out-of-school young
adults. The incidence of such problems was 22% among high school graduates not enrolled in
college, 16% for those completing 1-3 years of post-secondary schooling, and only 10% for
those with a bachelor’s or higher degree.

7

Many single mothers escape the most severe income inadequacy problems by remaining at home with their
parents. If they had formed their own households, more of them would have been classified as poor or near poor on
the basis of their own incomes.

Chart 9:
Percent of the Nation's 16-24 Year Olds in 2006-2007 Who Were Members of Poor/ Near Poor
Families By Educational Attainment/ School Enrollment Status
40.0
36.6
35.0
30.0
25.0
%

22.0
20.0

18.3
16.4

15.0
10.3
10.0
5.0
0.0
B.A. or Higher
Degree

13-15 Years (Not
Enrolled)

H.S. Students

H.S. Grad. (Not
Enrolled)

H.S. Dropouts

Educational Attainment/ School Enrollment

The nation’s young high school dropouts in 2006-2007 were nearly four times as likely as
their peers with a bachelor’s or higher academic degree to be living in a family with an annual
money income below 125% of the poverty line. Many of these families were dependent on cash
income transfers and in-kind benefits from federal and state government (food stamps, rental
subsidies, Medicaid benefits, federal and state EITC credits) to support themselves.
A number of poverty and welfare reform researchers in recent years have used higher
income standards to define inadequacy, including 200% of the federal government’s official
poverty line.8 Families with annual incomes under 200% of the official poverty income threshold
are classified as low income. During calendar years 2006-2007, approximately 35 percent of all
16-24 year olds across the nation were living in low income families. Again, high school
dropouts were the most likely to experience such low income problems. Fifty-eight percent of
young dropouts were living in low income families over the above two year period versus 41%
of out-of-school high school graduates, 33% of those with 1-3 years of college, and only 21% of
8

For a review of alternative income criteria for defining inadequacy, see: Garth Mangum, Stephen Mangum, and
Andrew Sum, The Persistence of Poverty in the United States, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2003.

those with a bachelor’s or higher degree (Chart 10). The lower incomes of the families in which
dropouts reside make it more difficult for them to finance future levels of schooling and training
in institutions off the job, thereby reducing their future gains in human capital with adverse
effects on their future earnings and incomes. High school dropouts, when employed, are the least
likely to receive formal training from their employers.9
Chart 10:
Percent of the Nation's 16-24 Year Olds in 2006-2007 Who Were Members of Low Income
Families By Educational Attainment/ School Enrollment Status
70
58

60

50
41
%

40
33

32

13-15 Years (Not
Enrolled)

H.S. Students

30
21
20

10

0
B.A. or Higher
Degree

H.S. Grad. (Not
Enrolled)

H.S. Dropouts

Educational Attainment/ School Enrollment Status

9

See: Jia Zhao, The Training Experiences of Young Adults in the U.S., Who Gets Trained and Why Does it
Matter?, Masters Thesis, Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Boston, 2008.

The Lifetime Net Fiscal Contributions of Adults 18 to 64 Years Old, U.S., 2007
Over their working lives, the average high school dropout will have a negative net fiscal
contribution to society of nearly -$5,200 while the average high school graduate generates a
positive lifetime net fiscal contribution of $287,000. The average high school dropout will cost
taxpayers over $292,000 in lower tax revenues, higher cash and in-kind transfer costs, and
imposed incarceration costs relative to an average high school graduate. Adult dropouts in the
U.S. in recent years have been a major fiscal burden to the rest of society. Given the current and
projected deficits of the federal government, the fiscal burden of supporting dropouts and their
families is no longer sustainable.
Table 3:
The Lifetime Net Fiscal Contributions of Adults 18-64 Years Old By
Educational Attainment, U.S., 2007
(A)

Educational Attainment
<12 or 12, No H.S. Diploma
H.S. Diploma/GED
Some College
Bachelor Degree
Master's or Higher Degree
Total

Annual Federal,
State, and Local
Tax Payments
6,087
9,938
13,244
20,580
29,876
14,239

(B)
(C)
Annual Cash and
In-Kind Transfers
Plus Imposed
Lifetime Net Fiscal
Incarceration Costs
Impact
6,197
3,551
2,508
1,236
1,061
2,934

-5,191
287,384
461,661
793,079
1,094,945
531,328

Summary and Conclusions
This research paper has identified a series of employment, earnings, income, and social
difficulties faced by the nation’s young adults lacking regular high school diplomas or their
equivalent. These social and incarceration problems of young dropouts are quite severe among
all gender and race-ethnic groups but are frequently more severe among men and Blacks. For
many dropouts, these labor market and earnings problems will persist over their entire working
lives, and for men they have intensified over the past few decades, with steep declines in their
lifetime earnings and incomes and attendant adverse consequences on their marriage behavior.

Similar to the lyrics of a recent country western song, many male high school dropouts “don’t
make it here anymore.”10
In his first speech to the U.S. Congress, President Obama noted that by leaving high
school without a diploma dropouts not only quit on themselves but “it is quitting on your
country…”11 It is fair to add that our country’s labor markets also have quit on them, failing to
provide the employment and real earnings opportunities to male dropouts it once did especially
in the Golden Era from 1947-1973. There is an overwhelming national economic and social
justice need to prevent existing high school students from dropping out without earning a
diploma and to encourage the re-enrollment and eventual graduation of those dropouts who have
already left the school system. In the absence of concerted efforts to bolster their academic
achievement, their formal schooling, their occupational skills, and their cumulative work
experience, their immediate and long term labor market prospects are likely to be quite bleak in
the U.S. economy even after the end of the current economic recession, which for many of these
youth has turned into a labor market depression.

10
11

See the song by James McMurtry, “We Can’t Make It Here Anymore,” 2004.
President Obama, “Address to Joint Session of Congress, February 24, 2009,”Available at: www.whitehouse.gov.