Economic opportunity, the force that has driven population shifts for years, is changing the face of migration as Hispanics move into parts of the nation beyond border states and traditional ports of entry. North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Indiana are experiencing a steady growth in Hispanic population. In addition, West Virginia, Ohio, and…

Replicates a Florida study of high school students' decisions to drop out using data for West Virginia. Confirms earlier findings that the decision to drop out is based on the student's perceptions of the economic opportunities obtained by a high school diploma. (FMW)

Previous explanations of teen pregnancy have often included uncritical use of the notion of adolescents "at risk." More recently, however, attention has shifted to structurally determined contextual factors to explain teen pregnancy. Such factors include economic and educational opportunities and costs, as well as chances for valued…

Building on previous data, researchers used West Virginia school district data to investigate the value of examining structurally determined opportunities and costs to explain high school students' dropping out. The study interpreted dropping out as a rational consequence of students' assessments of the opportunities and costs associated with…

REAL Enterprises, Inc. (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) is an academic program that helps students learn the basics of starting and nurturing a new business. West Virginia is 1 of 17 states offering the program with the goal of preparing youth to take advantage of economic opportunities in their own communities. (LP)

This paper examines pregnancy in early adolescence, among West Virginia females aged 10-14, as it relates to local economic and social contexts. Although research on adolescent pregnancy is substantial, it is generally limited to the experiences of older adolescents and premised on assumptions of methodological individualism--that the correlates…

In contrast to persistent "culture of poverty" explanations, studies of seemingly irrational risk-taking behaviors among West Virginia adolescents found that early pregnancy and dropping out of school were related to lack of economic opportunity and decline of traditional community cultural patterns without acceptable alternatives.…

Structured work and training activities for welfare recipients in West Virginia began in 1962 when the state's entire caseload of two-parent families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children was enrolled in mandatory work and training activities. In 1980s-1990s, the Community Work Experience Program became an important tool in…