Children of working poor caught in pinch of recession - Megan Woolhouse, Boston Globe

The economic downturn of recent years has fallen particularly hard on low-income households, forcing teens to trade school for work and put their futures at risk. Yet more families are confronting this problem because incomes — ­especially among the working poor — have stagnated since the recession officially ended in 2009. A new report, “How Youth Are Put At Risk By Parents’ Low Wage Jobs,” by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and Boston College, says that adolescents, who often take on adult responsibilities to help keep families afloat, ultimately bear the brunt of these decisions. As they neglect their education, falling further behind in class and often dropping out, they increase the risk that they, too, will become trapped in low-paying jobs.“Low-wage work is the new poverty,” said Randy Albelda, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Boston and one of the report’s authors. http://bostonglobe.com/business/2012/12/17/recession-scars-report-says-parents-low-wages-hurts-teens/OAcmqKAfxj59FmGVG6mrwN/story.html