September 27, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Dropouts most likely to be working poor
Lack of education and poverty are closely related among those in the labor force at least half the year.
[Chart data—TXT]
In 1998, 14.5 percent of high school dropouts were among the working poor, more than double the poverty rate among workers with a high school diploma (6.6 percent).
Poverty rates were even lower for those with an associate degree (2.8 percent) and for college graduates (1.4 percent).
These data are a product of the Current
Population Survey. The working poor are individuals who spent at least
27 weeks in the labor force (employed or unemployed), but whose family or
personal incomes fell below the official poverty level. For more
information, read BLS Report 944, A Profile of
the Working Poor, 1998.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »
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