children out of school in america - University of Tennessee Digital ...

Children who live with only one parent or by
themselves are more likely to be out of school. Even
in the 7-15 age grouping this pattern is evident.
Children in single-parent families are twice as likely
to be out of school than those living with both parents.
The fact that single-parent families are more
Table VII
Children Not EnroUed
Living With One or Two Parents or By Self
(Ages 7-17)
likely to be headed by women, themselves victims
of educational and occupational discrimination, is
undoubtedly a contributing factor. Adolescents who
leave home also seem more likely to be out of
school.
Total Total Living
Total Living with with One Parent
Persons Both Parents or By Self
Ages 7-15
School-Age Population 37,225,902 30,685,851 6,540,051
Not Enrolled 1,204,901 709,018 495,883
Percentage Not Enrolled 3.2 2.3 7.6
Ages 16 & 17
School-Age Population 7,701,394 4,455,877 3,245,517
Not Enrolled 1,214,787 332,470 882,317
Percentage Not Enrolled 15.8 7.5 27.2
Total Ages 7-17
School-Age Population 44,927,296 35,141,728 9,785,568
Not Enrolled 2,419,688 1,041,488 1,378,200
Percentage Not Enrolled S.4 3.0 14.1
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Census, Census of Population:
1970, Subject Reports, Final Report PC (2}-5A,
School Enrol/ment, Table 6.
See Appendix A for methodology.
School Financing
States with lower per pupil expenditures tend to
have more children out of school. In 1969-70, 13
of the 15 states with nonenrollment rates of 5 percent
or more had estimated per pupil current expenditures
under $700. Six of the 9 states with estimated
per pupil current expenditures of $600 or less in
1969-70 reported over 6 percent of their school-age
children not enrolled in April 1970. 3
In looking at the regional data (see Tables I, III
40
and IV), it is difficult to avoid jumping to the conclusion
that children out of school is a Southern
problem. It is not. The majority of children not
enrolled in school do not live in the South. What
is more likely true is that the whole range of factors
affecting nonenrollment come together in a way that
makes it more probable that aSouthern child, black
or white, will be out of school.
3 U.S. Deparunent of Health, Education and Welfare, Office
of Education, Digest of Educational Statistics, 1970, Table
76, p. 58.