Youth - Population (age 16 to 19) by school enrollment, employment status and educational attainment in Pennsylvania

School enrollment reflects the total number of students registered to an educational institution within a specified population. The school enrollment rate forms the basis for several other educational indicators used in the calculation of the Human Development Index (HDI).[1] This index combines indicators of health, education, and income to evaluate countries’ social development, standard of living, and quality of life.[2] Employment status describes current standing in the labor force and is often suggestive of economic well-being, as unemployment is generally an indicator of family hardship. Unemployment usually improves with educational attainment, the highest degree or level of education completed by an individual.[3] Many Americans remain unable to achieve a high education level because of their low-income status, which drastically hinders their access to the resources that high-attaining, high-earning families use to achieve postsecondary education, thus perpetuating their socioeconomic status.[4]

Gaps in educational attainment by family income are believed to play a significant role in accounting for income inequality and socioeconomic mobility, characterized as one’s ability to move from one social or economic class to another.[5] When academically qualified people lack the financial resources needed to enroll and succeed in school, education fails to fulfil the promise of promoting social mobility and may even reinforce social inequities.[6] Analyzing youth by school enrollment, employment status, and educational attainment provides important insight into a population’s ability to obtain schooling as well as its relative wealth. Areas with high amounts of employed students indicate profound desire for greater educational attainment despite a lack of resources to achieve advanced degrees. Measurement of these statuses is incredibly important for policymakers and education leaders interested in creating more affordable schooling options in addition to increasing social mobility.