Philadelphia job prospects bleak for high school dropouts

In Kensington and Eastern North Philadelphia, the unemployment rate for young adult dropouts is close to 50 percent.

And that only scratches the surface.  

About half of the area's dropouts between the ages of 20 and 24 aren’t even searching for work, so they aren’t counted in unemployment statistics.
 
That means that only one in four young adults without a high school diploma in Kensington/Eastern North Philly has a job, according to a recent article in Education Week, which highlights the struggles of Monica Reyes, a young Philadelphian struggling to find work in a city that already has a devastatingly high unemployment rate. 
 
"There's a period of eight or 10 years where a lot of decisions really come together and set your life path," said Paul Harrington, director of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy (CLMP) at Drexel University, which conducted an analysis of labor market outcomes for youth for the Notebook/NewsWorks.
 
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has made reducing the city’s high school dropout rate his priority. In 2011, for the first time in recent history, the city's four-year high school graduation rate inched above 60 percent.
 
But dropouts are still struggling to find work.
 
According to Drexel's CLMP, young adults in Kensington/Eastern North Philly are twice as likely to have a job if they also have a high school diploma or equivalent.
 
"A high school diploma opens the door to opportunity," said Neeta Fogg, a Drexel researcher who helped conduct the CLMP analysis.
 
By providing at-risk students the flexibility, accessibility and support they need to finish their studies, we can make sure that students like Monica earn their diplomas and open the doors to brighter futures.