In 2016, Dylann Roof changed the lives of hundreds of American’s lives when he walked into a Charleston church and killed nine people. Although he struggled in many aspects of his life, Roof notoriously had difficulties in high school; Roof dropped out after failing the ninth grade twice (Sanchez & Payne, “Who is Dylann Roof?”). Could Roof’s lack of education be tied to his heinous crime? Roof is not alone in his background leading to criminal behavior. In the United states, high school dropouts commit about 75% of crimes. (Statistic Brain Institute). While the link between crime and education level has been noted, the government fails to solve the dropout crisis. Many high school dropouts not only impact society, but they effect the paychecks of American taxpayers. Increasing graduation rates could alleviate many of the issues that the American public faces. With the average American taxpayer spending about $260 per year on corrections, it is clear that this is no small problem. Additionally, the days that someone could drop out of high school and still make a decent living working in labor are long gone. The education-industrial complex leaves many who lack education out work for years, dependence on social welfare programs for survival. These programs are also supported by taxpayers. This lead to the research question, “To What Extent Do High School Dropouts Effect the American Economy?”. Through many credible sources, I have advanced the argument: High school dropouts impact the American economy due to lower wages and higher crime rates and healthcare spending. This excessive dropout rate negatively impacts the economy and places a financial burden on the average American taxpayer that could be easily eliminated.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence that displays high school dropout’s effects on the economy is displayed through increased crime rates. Although a self-conducted survey displays that not everyone recognizes the link between criminal behavior and education, sources show that this connection is irrefutable (Brown). Amongst those who participated in a self-conducted survey, 20% failed to recognize the connection between high school dropouts and crime. These participants ranged in ages from 19-55, genders and educational backgrounds. However, all participants were asked “Do you think there is a connection between criminal behavior and obtaining a high school degree?”. Contrastingly, according to a study cited by Sam Dillion of the New York Times, “about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts are in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates” meaning that those who drop out of high school are 3.5 times more likely to end up in jail. This displays that there is a positive relationship between incarceration and dropout rates. Additionally, facts reported by the Statistic Brain Research Institute, high school dropouts are responsible for 75% of all crimes. With an association this strong, it is a tragedy that America is allowing this issue to persist. High amounts of criminal behavior could be prevented by increasing the education of the nation. 

Increased crime rates are not only a concern to public health, it is effecting the wallets of all Americans taxpayers, no matter their education level. The cost of an average inmate hovers around 31,286$ and while many are looking for ways to spend less per inmate, few are thinking about ways to prevent individuals from ever entering the system (Henrichson & Delaney 6). By increasing education in American youth, the nation could decrease the amount of individuals in jail and allocate more money to other programs. Additionally, the aforementioned cost does not take into account legal fees that are often covered by the state and opportunity loss from incarceration. Opportunity loss includes the taxes that inmates would be paying had they stayed out of jail and he contributions they make to the economy. Some, such as Henrichson & Delaney, say the answer to spending less on incarceration in the United stated is to alter sentencing and shorten the amount of time served for certain crimes (11). However, this train of thought fails to address the root of the problem: a lack of basic education in America. Focusing on the effect of a problem will never fully eliminate the issue. The Alliance for Excellent Education has found that “a 10% increase in the male high school graduation rate would lead to an estimated 20% decrease in assault and murder arrest rates.” (Gonzalez 6). Since heinous crimes like murder and assault are often sentenced to prolonged amount of jail times, this decrease could mean saving a great amount of tax dollars. Harsh crimes like the ones previously mentioned are costlier in legal fees as well. Additionally, Research shows that even a 5% increase in male high school graduation rates would result in an estimated $19.7 billion savings in corrections costs (7). This means that instead of focusing on the effect, the nation could focus on the cause of the problem. Raising the high school graduation rate could save society in corrections costs. This extra money could then be contributed to stimulating the economy and raising the GDP rather than being placed into jails. Society can no longer afford to ignore ways to reduce crime and lower over-burdening costs resulting from high incarceration rates. 

In tandem with crime, high school dropouts also effect the economy due to earning lower wages. According to an infographic created by the Sundance Channel and supplied by the Huffington Post, the average person with a high school diploma makes about 29,950 dollars compared to those who dropout making an average of 22,860 dollars (Sundance Channel). This is an annual difference of 7,090 dollars for both genders combined, although the difference in average male salaries has an even greater difference. With the average lifespan being around 72 years, and the average person working about 35 years, this difference could measure up to almost 250,000 dollars. Many contest that even 22,860$ is an optimistic average for salary. Countless high school dropouts are unemployed or live below the poverty line. The unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma is nearly two times higher than it is for those who finished high school and many who are employed are vastly underemployed, machining minimum wage and struggling to support themselves. These individuals pay little to no taxes, which has a negative impact on the economy. When people don’t have the disposable income to spend, the economy suffers and businesses that are not entirely necessary suffer. This mainly effects the service industry because less money is being spent on luxuries. Additionally, those who make lower incomes pay less in taxes, these subsequently lower tax revenues impact everything from national security to the infrastructure used every day. To put this perspective tax dollar loss into perspective, if all the high school dropouts from 2010 got a high school diploma $6.7 billion in increased Gross National Product (GDP), a measurement often used to asses a country’s economic strength (Warren Beatty, Dropouts are the real problem).  

Although some individuals may find success without earning a high school diploma, these cases are the exception to the rule. In the article, “9 Billionaires Who Didn't Graduate High School.”, author Daisyme outlines the successful life stories of nine individuals who dropped out of high school. During the era of Rockefeller or Ford, two of the nine men highlighted in the article, education was not as stressed in daily life. However, in today’s modern society, “Young people who drop out of school make only $4,000 a year – if they can find work at all –” according to Claudia Rowe, author of How Much Do Dropouts Cost Us? The Real Numbers Behind ‘Pay Now or Pay Later’. While this figure is a lower estimate mean salary than stated in previous research, this statistic takes into account those who earn nothing because of unemployment. Additionally, Claudia argues that the majority of high school dropouts are unemployed completely. Alexander Eichler from the Huffington Post also highlights that in today’s economic state, education is more important than ever. Eichler claims that “The unemployment rate for college graduates is just 4.2 percent, but the unemployment rate for high school graduates is 8.4 percent…The picture is even worse for high school dropouts, 13.1 percent of whom are out of work.” meaning that the unemployment rate is lower with every degree of education (Eichler, “More Than Half of Older High School Dropouts Not Employed Today”). In tandem with Eichlers statement, Rowe states that many of the high school dropouts that are employed are “underemployed” and often must turn to government assistance to supplement their very low income. While Daisyme displays the success stories, people who have found wealth despite the odds, he fails to address the millions of others who live below the poverty line due to their low level of education.

Due to their low wages, high school dropouts are more likely to receive welfare. Author Claudia Rowe, a journalist for the Seattle Times, writes that high school dropouts cost taxpayers money. Because of welfare programs like food stamps, taxpayers are actually spending more money per dropout than they are investing in public schools. Perhaps if preventative spending was put in place, less students would dropout and this would end up saving the American people money. Rowe contests that, “Opportunity youth receive $9,660 more in lifetime welfare payments than those who graduate from high school, for an aggregate annual burden of $65.1 billion.”. This amount of money could be significantly decreased by raising the graduation rate as more people would be able to support themselves and stop using welfare programs.  Contrastingly, Author Mike Thoma, macroeconomist and a Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics of the University of Oregon, argues that “The good these programs provide far outweighs the costs”.  Thoma argues that social welfare gives people who wouldn’t generally have disposable income, a way to spend money. This spending of money then in turn stimulates the economy from a bottom-up level. While this argument possesses a great amount of merit, Thoma fails to address that many do not use welfare as it is intended, especially high school dropouts. When utilized as a tool to temporarily stipend an income source or to get someone back onto their feet during a hardship, social welfare is very helpful and does benefit the economy. However, many high school dropouts are reliant on welfare for a lifetime, rather than a short amount of time. With nearly half the heads on welfare being high school dropouts, this is a very real problem that needs to be addressed (Rowe, “The Real Cost of Dropouts”). Due to the low wages and high unemployment rate of dropouts, they often will be on welfare for prolonged periods of time, rather than using it for its intended purpose. Additionally, Welfare is a tax based system. Since high school dropouts pay very little in taxes, this abuse of the programs is where problems form because those individuals will never be able to pay the money back into the system that they had to use. 

An often overlooked cost of high school dropout lies within the healthcare system. In an interview conducted with Craig Grimm, masters in political science and advanced placement high school teacher, Grimm stated that because many high school dropouts are uninsured, they often are undertreated. Grimm gave the example of an uninsured individual who has a cut; due to their lack of insurance, they cannot see a doctor to get antibiotics to prevent an infection. Instead, this individual must wait until the cut has become so bad that they must seek medical attention. This turns preventative care, provided by insurance, into a luxury. The cost of this medical emergency often falls on taxpayers, as these individuals can not cover the cost and hospitals are required to see emergency cases regardless of the patient’s income level. This also causes problems like overcrowding in hospitals. Due to overcrowding, those who are in emergency situations, like a car accident, have less attention and resources devoted to them because resources are being placed into patients who could have prevented such injuries. Additionally, high school dropouts are increasingly reliant on Medicaid and Medicare, programs that are both funded by taxpayer money. In tandem with being under or noninsured, those with less education have a greater risk of health problems. According to the Center for Disease control, “Education was inversely associated with heart disease (any type), hypertension, and stroke” (Pleis, Ward, & Lucas, 5). This means that as the educational level increased, the percentages of adults with these conditions decreased. This leaves high school dropouts vulnerable to many of these long term conditions, despite their overall lack of health care. Because of this, medical burdens caused by these conditions normally falls on the shoulders of Americans. 

Although legislation has been put in place in attempts to increase high school graduation rates, they have remained fairly stagnant amongst the previous few decades. Increasing the graduation rate in America could not only benefit public safety, but also the economy as a whole. If money from the crime, taxes, welfare, and healthcare of high school dropouts was decreased, more disposable income would be available and subsequently could be spent, stimulating the economy and raising the nations GDP. In order to make this change, programs need to be put in place to target at risk individuals so that they can get the help they need graduating school. There is room for additional research on this topic in many areas including the effect dropping out has on minority groups as well as the ways to identify and help at risk individuals. 
