Job loss has adverse effects on the family not only financially but also in all aspects of life. Its damage is so great that it affects the next generation, especially in the area of education. This is what the recent study from Duke University revealed as college attendance among low-income students increased.

The study said that widespread job loss has made the gap in college attendance between the rich and the poor much bigger. Elizabeth Ananat, an economist from Duke University, said that job loss caused more poor students to avoid college not because of the loss of income but because of stress.

Stress because of unemployment become triggers of emotional problems and poor academic performance among teenagers. Because of these, young people altogether lose their desire to go to college.

Job loss is so traumatic that even if the community creates new jobs, those who lost their previous jobs find it hard to get back to their feet. As Ananat further explained, "jobs aren't interchangeable."

Ananat said that they have compared the job loss rates during middle and high school years to college attendance rates. They found out that in states which have a 7 percent job loss rate, college attendance by the poorest teenagers dropped by 20 percent.

Even when financial aid increased and college tuition fees were adjusted to make higher education more accessible to poor students, the decrease in enrollment among these youths continues.

She said that many experts believe that if they deindustrialize these states and replace jobs with technology, children will go down a different yet better path than their parents. However, the opposite is happening because of the psychological impact job loss has to families.

The study suggested that to lessen the trauma of a job loss, there should be an intensive retraining program to introduce then to new opportunities.

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Tags Duke University, Unemployment