Chapter 10: Statistics Numbers in the Real World

Stay in School

DROPPING OUT

  High-school dropouts will earn only about 75 percent as much as high-school graduates and less than half of what a college graduate is likely to make. For example, in 1992 a male between the ages of 20 and 29 who was a high-school dropout could expect to make $9,924 annually compared to a high-school graduate who would make $15,488 and a college graduate making $26,183.

  Between 1990 and 1991, 5.1 percent of high-school dropouts fell below the poverty level compared
to only 1.9 percent of those with at least a high-school diploma.

  Since economic success, at least for males, is closely linked to stable families, young males
dropping out of high school adversely affects the formation of stable two-parent families.

  The good news is that only 9.3 percent of teens ages 16 to 19 were dropouts in 1992. This is an
11 percent decrease since 1985.

Source:  SafePlaceServices

How much income does the average male high-school dropout in his 20s make annually? 
How much income does his high-school graduate counterpart earn annually? 
How much per-year difference is there?    For 10 years? 

Assuming that for the next 10 years, the high-school graduate puts that additional money into purchasing a home, how expensive a home could he have paid for in the next 10 years?  Assume average interest. 

Do you think the following conclusions are appropriate or not?

• Young males dropping out of high school adversely affects the formation of stable two-parent families.
• Teenage male dropout rates have decreased significantly in the last 10 years.
• High-school dropouts are more likely to experience poverty.

Find the most up-to-date population for the U.S. at POPClock Projection page of the U.S. Census Bureau.  Compute the number of 16 to 19 year old dropouts for this year if the dropout percentage stays the same as 1992.