This group of young people are two or three times more likely to drop out of school than classmates whose families stay together. The resulting financial stress raises the odds of offspring dropping out of school to supplement the family income. However, what is often overlooked is that many of these disrupted families were poor before the divorce or separation, says the Penn State researcher.
Low income is the cause of both family disruption and school dropout.
Our findings in fact support welfare programs that help poor children generally, regardless of family structure, as well as alimony payment enforcement that assist single mothers suffering dramatic losses of income after divorce. These policies would effectively reduce the likelihood that their children will drop out of school. The researchers' sample was comprised of 11,094 eighth grade students living in two-parent households in 1988. Follow-up studies of these students in 1990 and 1992 yield information about the change in family structure and dropout status. More children are currently being born to never-married mothers.