Idaho No. 1 in impoverished young adults

BOISE – Economic problems plaguing much of rural Idaho since the mid-1990s are being blamed for pushing 29 percent of the state’s young adults into poverty and aggravating school dropout rates.

The 2004 edition of the annual Kids Count survey, financed by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation, found that in 2002 no other state had a higher percentage of adults ages 18 to 24 living in poverty than Idaho.

“The economy is a big culprit,” said Linda Jensen, who was involved in gathering the research for the report issued Thursday. “The kids who don’t go on to college, who don’t have jobs, live more in the rural areas. They don’t have the resources, they lack the incentives.”

“And when the jobs that are being created are low-paying jobs, then the more adult population is competing for those jobs that young adults might otherwise get,” she said.

More than 39,000 of the 135,000 Idaho adults between 18 and 24 were considered living in poverty.

However, fewer than half of those living in poverty were considered disconnected – out of work, out of school or nothing beyond a high school diploma if that.

While the information used for the report is the most recent available nationally and is two years old, there were two statistics on the longer-term trend in Idaho and they showed the state losing ground.

Idaho was one of only 10 states to see its percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds not in school or jobs rise from the mid-1990s to 2001.

“It’s a consequence of budget cuts in education and our inability to get ahead of the economy to determine how we’re going to invest in education for the kids at risk,” said social activist Roger Sherman of United Vision for Idaho.

The state ranked 35th nationally with an 11 percent dropout rate – while it was 32nd with 10 percent of its teens neither working or going to school.

“We’ve got to invest in these kids if they are going to find any kind of route that is going to lead them to success,” Sherman said.

“We don’t have the luxury to waste any of our people.”

Michael Journee, spokesman for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, pointed to a number of administration initiatives targeting the very groups cited by the report and the rural society many of them live in.

He contended the innovation offered by the charter public schools so ardently supported by the governor may go a long way toward improving the situation.

And he said Kempthorne would remain active in the National Governors Association initiative to help smaller communities strengthen their economy.

State Schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard said the state’s dropout rate has made some dramatic improvements since 2001.

But she agreed with Sherman that the financial squeeze put on education by the economic downturn has made it difficult for Idaho to respond to key problems like reduced access to college.

Jensen also blamed the budget crunch for poking holes in what was only a minimal social safety net to start with.

“When you have a very conservative state that’s going to put business as its No. 1 priority, then when the economy gets tougher you’re going to see children’s issues suffer more,” Jensen said.

“States that are doing well, in my opinion, have a more progressive attitude toward children.”