The youth of today will make for more educated and healthy adults than older generations, a new study suggests.
For starters, members of Generation Z — those born from 1995 on — are less likely to drop out of high school than millennials, according to research conducted by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation. The rate of kids who didn't graduate from high school on time declined by 28 percent between 2008 and 2014, it found.
Another encouraging trend: Fewer teen births. In the seven years examined, the number of teens giving birth dropped a whopping 40 percent. Studies have shown both that teenagers are both waiting longer to have sex and are more likely to use protection if they are sexually active.
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And as the nation struggles to deal with a veritable epidemic of opioid abuse, its youngsters offer hope that the situation will improve. The study found that teen drug and alcohol use declined by 38 percent. Every state saw a decline in teen substance use except Louisiana and the District of Columbia.
What is surprising about the results, note the researchers, is that the improving education and health measures come despite the fact that kids growing up in recent years are not living in better economic situations than in past years. More than 1 in 5 children lived in poverty in 2014, and the percentage of children living in high-poverty areas increased from 11 percent between 2006 and 2010 and 14 percent between 2010 and 2014.
Areas of high poverty tend to be places that are anticipated to have high dropout rates, high levels of drug abuse, and high teen birth rates.
That said, Generation Z faces major challenges in reaping the rewards of its good behavior. The cost of a college education continues to rise far faster than inflation, saddling young people, particularly those from low-income families, with crippling debt.
"With rising higher education costs, stagnant wages and a flimsy social safety net, teens are less likely than their parents or grandparents to obtain economic security," said Patrick McCarthy, president of the Casey Foundation. "For the sake of our economy and our society, we must reverse this trend to ensure that today's youth — who will be the next generation of workers, parents and community leaders — have a successful transition to adulthood and beyond."
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