By Jim Brown
A new report shows that immigrant Hispanic teens are more likely to drop out of high school than are American-born Latinos.
The analysis of Census Bureau data conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center found that immigrant Hispanics who had no U.S. schooling were 72% more likely to drop out than immigrants who had some U.S. schooling. The report's author, Rick Fry, says many of those who never went to U.S. schools migrated here solely for work.
“This group of recently-arrived immigrant Latinos that have never been in U.S. schools … doesn't know English [and is] not familiar with American classrooms,” Fry says. “It's hard to believe that traditional American high schools are going to successfully intervene with these youth. That's a very daunting challenge.”
Fry says although this group is often more successful than other dropouts, as a long-run labor market strategy these young people are not well served.
“If we were to look where they are at age 30, they will continue to be stuck in the lowest rungs of the U.S. job market in relatively low-wage jobs,” he says. “It's not hard to understand why: they haven't finished high school [and] many of them will not master English — so they will continue to work long hours at relatively low-paying jobs.”
Fry says in terms of economic development, that is a very short-run strategy. He suggests immigrant Latino youth who recently arrived in the U.S. and are working hard in the lower ends of the job market must do two things: first, learn the English language through adult education programs; and receive skill training from their employers.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)
