Every year 1.3 million U.S. high school students drop out of school with one quarter of female students failing to graduate on time. Female dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less when they are employed, to become pregnant before the age of 20, to become obese, to smoke, and to drink more heavily than their male counterparts. This…

This report examines the causes and effects of Appalachian poverty, focusing on education, unemployment, social services, and economic development. The data in the report were extracted from the 1980 U.S. Census. Although there has been a steady decline in Appalachian poverty rates since the landmark 1964 declaration of a War on Poverty,…