The road into or out of poverty begins in a child’s teens. These years are fraught with choices and these choices map the route for teens either into success or into poverty.
History and statistics demonstrate which choices lead to a life outside poverty and which choices divert our children into poverty. The consequences of failing to map appropriately remain throughout their life. The following choices divert our teens from the path of success onto the path of poverty: Criminal Behavior, Children before Marriage, Not Working, Dropping out of School (see here for statistics and here, again)
Criminal Behavior–Most of us think of prison or jail time when we think of criminal behavior. But whoever breaks the law is a criminal and this includes age-related laws as well. Under-age alcohol use, tobacco use, and illegal drug use are all criminal behaviors. Many of us would like to count teen-age drinking as simple rebellion or “blowing off steam.” Such thinking is delusional. It ignores the reality that under-age alcohol and tobacco use are gateway criminal behaviors.
Children before Marriage–The acceptability of out-of-wedlock pregnancies has increased to near normalization in this recent generation. I don’t advocate the return to social stigma but families and their teens need to be aware of the economic consequences and stigma of a child before marriage. Single mothers and their children are the predominant family situation for persons in poverty. Lest the fathers of these out-of-wedlock kids think they’re off the hook, they should know that they will be charged by a court order to pay child support which–over the eighteen years–could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is no anonymity: enforcement agencies have the authority to compel DNA tests even if all they know is the first name of the suspected father.
Not Working–The best way to get a good job is to already have a job. A teen’s work career should start early at whatever job they can get. Unemployment is rampant among the poor. Having a job trains the teen in responsibility, getting along with co-workers, taking instruction from a boss, and the many other necessary skills for advancement in the work place.
Dropping out of School–Earnings potential over a lifetime consistently advance for every year of school completed. This means that one of the surest ways to increase income is to finish high school and obtain a diploma. With that diploma in hand, nearly every state provides the means for a student to get into a state college. Teens with some college earn more. College graduates earn even more. Earning levels continue to advance with years of school completed.
And, one more of consequence: The necessity of waiting until marriage before having children has already been stated but there is also the need to stay married once married. Divorce is a powerful diversion into poverty. Making a sound choice for a marriage partner is as much an economic decision as a romantic one.
These diversions into poverty accumulate in their effect. The consequences of choosing Criminal Behavior, Children before Marriage, Dropping Out of School, Unemployment, and Divorce gives a teen a 93% chance of living into poverty–an almost certainty. These are powerful diversions and the consequences lifelong.
However, avoiding the diversions does map a route to success for our teens. Those who choose to avoid Criminal Behavoir (including under-age drinking), to not get pregnant or father a child before marriage, to finish high school, to get and keep a job, and to get married and stay married–those who avoid the diversions have a 99% chance of staying out of poverty
Our society has already led successful campaigns to eliminate some poor choices because of their social cost. Smoking’s been greatly reduced, seat belt use has increased dramatically, and most motorcyclists use helmets. Isn’t it about time we had a campaign to eliminate the social costs of poverty?
