Study links child abuse with high school dropout

Children who have been victims of violence are more likely to drop out of high school before graduation than their peers, according to the new study Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Community Violence and High School Graduation.

Girls who had experienced childhood violence were 24 percent more likely to drop out, while boys who had experienced violence were 26 percent more likely to drop out than their peers.

One in five people in the United States drop out of high school before graduation, which decreases their lifetime earning potential by 20 percent. Yet there has been little previous research into the link between being a victim of violence before the age of 16 and dropping out of high school.

The study, "Child Abuse, Sexual Assault, Community Violence and High School Graduation," was published in the November issue of the journal Review of Behavioral Economics.

The study suggests that policies to reduce violence against children or assist children in coping with violence will have the additional benefit of lowering the national dropout rate.

Abstract of the study