- A barometer of the health of American Society is the high school graduation rate, which also tells the skill level of its future workforce.1
- The more schooling people have the better their health is likely to be, thus education is one of the strongest predictors of health. Less education predicts earlier death, while more formal education is consistently associated with lower death rates; evidence suggests that education exerts its strongest influence on health. High levels of risky behaviors such as low levels of physical activity, smoking, and being overweight occur more the less schooling people have.2
- The U.S. high school graduation rate peaked at around 80% in the late 1960s and then declined by 4-5% points after adjusting for multiple sources of bias and differences in sample construction; therefore the actual high school graduation rate is actually lower than estimated. Minority graduation rates are still substantially below the rates for non-Hispanic whites, as about 65% of blacks and Hispanics leave school with a high school diploma. A large fraction of minority high school credentials are produced in prisons, so the exclusion of the incarcerated populations from the official statistics greatly biases minority estimates.1
- School dropout rates are directly and indirectly affected by health. Psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems, substance abuse, and pregnancy are student health problems associated with dropping out of high school. An estimated 30-40% of female teenaged dropouts are mothers and teenage pregnancy is the leading cause of dropping out of school. Young men are also affected, as early parenting and the need to support a child cause them to dropout. A significant percentage of dropouts are due to mental illness and emotional disturbance.2
- There are several ways that good education leads to good health. Some of the factors associated with improved health due to more schooling, and thus increased money earned include healthier food, better medical care and health insurance, more education, and better housing in safer neighborhoods. College can offer even greater benefits than high school alone; however high school completion is the gateway into college. By offering learners access to health information and tools to acquire help and resources, education facilitates healthier choices. Acquiring social support, strengthening social support, and mitigating social stressors are examples of how education can help to improve health. The more social support people have is associated with higher education levels. An outcome associated with better health is that people gain a sense of control over their lives.2
- American economic growth as well as worker productivity has been fueled by the upward trend in secondary education.1
- The economic incentives to graduate high school have increased during the past 25 years due to growing wage differentials between high school graduates and dropouts. The real wages of skilled workers have risen sharply, while that of high school dropouts has declined since the early 1970s.1
References
1.American Bar Foundation. (20, June 2008). High School Graduation Rate is a Barometer of the Health of American Society. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/research/summary/6
2.Freudenberg, Nicholas DrPH and Ruglis, Jessica. (2007, September 15). Reframing School Dropout as a Public Health Issue. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public health Research, Practice and Policy. Retrieved February 7, 2012, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2099272/