"In 2013, 71% of black children were born to single, unwed mothers. For Hispanics it was 53% and for whites it was 36%. At some point before turning 18 a majority of ALL american children will likely live with a single mother or father.
30% of American girls will become pregnant by 19.
Just one biological parent reduces chances the child will graduate from high school by 40%."
(New York Times, Kristoff, 3.12.14)
We need to focus how do we help young people get from lower economic positions to middle class. We need to focus on increasing the number of children who live in households headed by high school dropouts and focus on getting the dropouts into programs to get a high school degree and post secondary education. The Michigan Governor's efforts to increase 3rd grade reading scores and to have home mentors (and community based mentors) are excellent steps toward improving the opportunity gap and income disparity of our families in Michigan and in America.
These steps need to be very, very focused. They do not need to be huge, subsidized public grant programs, but rather a partnership between communities, schools, business, religious and labor leaders. One step at a time. Good data, good metrics and good benchmarking will bring success.