Tajikistan labour migration and its implications

Tajikistan labour migration and its implications Introduction Background Labour migration and remittances are one of the most evident globalisation phenomena in Tajikistan. According to UNDP Human Development Report (2005) and World Bank (2008) from 600,000 to 1,500,000 Tajik citizens migrated overseas for work in 2005 and remittances being sent by them constitute staggering 36% of national GDP of Tajikistan. Remittances are proven to be large source of external finance stimulating consumption which in turn has a very positive effect on economy, especially on services sector. According to World Bank (2005) remittances are considered as the second biggest source of development finance after foreign direct investment. While remittances serve as an important social stabilising factor, they can also act as means of internal investment and boosting in this manner local development. My analysis will focus on the role of remittance savings either in leveraging to borrow from banking systems to invest in activities such as small businesses, or in directly financing them, which as the result improve the economic welfare of migrant households in both rural and urban areas. This dissertation will be based on analysis of data sources coming from various researches conducted by international organisations and research centres about Tajikistan labour migration and its implications. I will also examine the dynamic strategic aspects of interaction between the migrant and the remittance-receiving relatives and asses the benefits of particular types of motives under remitting. Furthermore, I would like to model hypothetical usage of savings out of remittances to business opportunities and asses the implications. The Republic of Tajikistan Tajikistan is the smallest country in the Central Asia and situated in south-east part of that region. 93% of Tajikistan consists of mountains, and more than half of the country lies on an altitude higher than 3000 meters above sea level. This leaves the countrys population of approximately 7 million people to reside and produce mainly in the remaining 6.52% of arable land, struggling with landslides, earth quakes, mudslides and unreliable access to clean water.. What is more, the countrys mountainous areas not only challenging for agriculture, but also contributing to a regionalisation and division of the country as the mountain ranges separate east from west, and north from south. These regional complications became particularly pertinent during the 1992-97 Civil War where, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG), between 60,000 and 100,000 people died, approximately 600,000 were internally displaced and 80,000 left the country, including a significant amount of the Slav population. The ICG estimates the cost of the war to U.S. $7 billion, and in this way significantly slowing the countrys modest attempts for post-Soviet recovery. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the devastating Civil War, the country has experienced a significant decline in living standards through a rise in unemployment and poverty, and a deterioration of infrastructure, health care and education. Furthermore, the country lost its previously established export markets, sources of supplies and subsidies from Moscow (accounted to almost 40 percent of government revenue) (European Observatory on Health Care Systems, 2000). According to Trade and Investment Division (2001), â€Å"Between 1991 and 1997, the level of GDP diminished by more than 60 percent which significantly reduced the living standards of the less protected part of the population.† (p. 252). All these above mentioned factors urged Tajikistan to accumulate foreign debt, which reached $880 million US dollar by 1998. It is worth state that Tajikistan has comparative advantage in growing of cotton, which is considered as cash crop and main source of foreign exchange (World Bank Poverty Assessment Tajikistan Update). Namely the export of cotton coupled with aluminum helped the country to restore external balance. Although cotton is strategically important, the growing of that crop entails difficulties with extensive irrigation and profitability nowadays. FAO (2008) claimed cotton growers in Tajikistan were indebted about 100 million US dollars due to dramatic drop in prices for raw cotton in 2000. All these difficult situations have encouraged considerable labour emigration and a return to a more patriarchal society based on religious beliefs and old traditions as survival strategy when the traditional mans role as the main bread winner of the family is being challenged. Poverty and Migration Tajikistan was the poorest among the Soviet Union republics and nowadays, it remains the poorest country in Europe and Central Asia region. According to World Bank Poverty Assessment Tajikistan Update, Tajikistans mean per capita income by 1989 was less than half of that in Russia. Its national income per capita was less than 200 US dollars. After gaining of independence, figures were even deplorable; 81 percent of population lived under poverty line in 1999 (less than 2.15 US dollars per day at purchasing power parity). (Source TLSS 2003 and TLSS 2009). The unofficial unemployment rate was around 30%. After the end of civil war and some years of stability and peace Tajikistan experienced substantial improvements in poverty rates, which dropped to 64 percent in 2003. However, still, this is the highest rate of poverty when compared to that of poor countries in Commonwealth of Independent States, like Kyrgyzstan (54 percent in 2001) and Moldova (45 percent in 2002). (Source: Poverty A ssessments for respective countries.) Poverty rates in rural areas are higher than in urban areas. In 2003, the proportion of poor people was 65 percent in rural areas against 59 percent in urban. (World Bank Poverty Assessment Update). Provided that 73 percent of the population of Tajikistan lives in rural areas the poverty can be considered overwhelmingly rural. (World Bank Poverty Assessment Update). Given that Tajikistan has the youngest population structure of the former Soviet countries with 70 percent aged under 30, poverty is overwhelmingly among young and economically active part of the population. Lack of income means lack of opportunities: not only loss of access to food, health care and education, but also the loss of the ability to choose and control ones own life. Poverty destroys human capital and has an adverse impact on social relations, leading to violence and instability. (Saodat Olimova) Furthermore, in 2007, Tajikistan experienced the hard consequences of strong rise in international food and fuel prices; especially it is felt by people of Tajikistan. While the impact of the higher fuel and food prices and misguided market interventions of the government have been felt by everyone, many households in rural and mountainous areas seemingly are on the verge of destitution. While many vegetable prices have increased between 20-30% in the last 11 months, wheat flour has increased 81-131%, and cooking oils from 118-139%. All the while, real wages for unskilled laborers (which are too low to cover household costs to begin with) have increased by a mere of 20% (by 6% in KT). In short, wages are not keeping pace with the dramatic increases in food and fuel prices. Traditional lepeshka now cost 1 somoni of the 44.61 somoni an average teacher or nurse earns a month. Clearly, people have to find ways to survive and migration seems the only plausible way to do so. Thus, it is hard to improve ones living conditions in Tajikistan, and many find themselves forced to seek employment abroad. Furthermore comparatively improved economies of Russian Federation and other CIS countries create an appropriate environment for migration from Tajikistan. According to a year 2006 International Organization for Migration (IOM) survey on trafficking from Tajikistan, 96.9% of the approximately 1 million migrants from Tajikistan go to Russia in search of work. 1.4% of the migrants work in Kyrgyzstan, 0.7% in Kazakhstan, and another 0.7% in Ukraine. Also, according to an IOM report conducted amongst 2000 migrants in 2002, with follow-up amongst 4000 migrants in 2003, these migrants were 85% men and 15% women in 2002. Amongst men, the age groups 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49 all make up approximately one third of the migrant mass each. Olimova and Bosc divide these age groups into two, corresponding to the traditional life cycle in Tajikistan: â€Å"sons† of 18-29 years, and â€Å"fathers† of 40-49 years. The first group migrates mainly to make money to establish his own family, whereas the second group goes abroad to be able to feed his family and organize the traditional ceremonies for his children. In average, 68.5% of the migrant s are married, and 22.6% live together as in marriage in Tajikistan, but without official registration. The last group consists mainly of youth between 15 and 19 years of age. Theoretical Background GREGORIAN, D. MELKONYAN, T. (January 2008) Microeconomic Implications of Remittances in an Overlapping Generations Model with Altruism and Self-Interest, IMF Working Paper, WP/08/19. This publication illustrates the dynamic strategic aspects of interaction between the migrant and remittance receiving relatives and shows the various microeconomic implications under each particular circumstance of interaction. Gregorian and Melkonyan analyse the plethora of motives for remit in terms of altruistic and self interest behavior of the remitter. In addition, they consider the scenario where two parties could work out self-enforcing contracts to implement choices that maximise their total surplus. They also discuss both the migration and the remittance patterns in Armenia with a particular focus on push and pull factors. The main part of the paper contended an empirical estimation of the microeconomic impact of migration and remittance in Armenia on hours supplied to the market, education spending, savings and borrowing behaviour from commercial banks. In the words of Gregorian and Melkonyan, â€Å"this evidence [of the paper] suggests that the benefits of remittances might be overstated and emphasises the importance of measuring their impact in a general rather than a partial equilibrium context†. In conclusion, the authors suggest that there is a need for either direct or indirect policy measures in shaping the remittance flows and their impact on the behaviour of remittance receiving households. This article inspired me to deepen my research of the dissertation topic in terms of analysis of not only the quantitative pattern of remittances but also the behavioral aspects of this phenomenon. That is, whether the remitter has altruistic or self-interest motives while sending money back home and what the possible outcomes are under each circumstance. I will also consider models and regression methods used in the paper to estimate possible impacts of remittance on labour supply, education spending and saving/borrowing behaviour in Tajikistan. Furthermore, the above paper put forward a vague, but at the same time, ambitious notion of potential policy measures that should be taken in order to promote remittance saving for the creation of small business and entrepreneurial activities in households, which I believe will be a crucial part of my dissertation. GIULIANO, P. RUIZ-ARRANZ, M. (March 2006) Remittances, Financial Development, and Growth, Journal of Development Economics, doi: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2008.10.005 This paper examines the relationship between remittances and growth, and in particular the influence of local financial sector development on a countrys capacity to take advantage of remittances. Giuliano and Ruiz-Arranz underline the importance of remittances in promoting economic growth whilst looking specifically at the interaction between remittances and the financial sector. This publication is considered to be the first paper to provide evidence for both complementarity and substitutability between remittances and financial development in promoting economic growth. The authors make use of newly constructed data for remittances covering 100 developing countries and illustrate that remittances boost growth in countries with less developed financial systems by providing an alternative way to finance investment and helping to overcome liquidity constraint. They also suggest that there could be an investment channel through which remittances could promote growth especially when the financial sector does not meet the credit needs of the population, where remittances act as a substitute for financial services. I plan to make substantial use of the concept of interaction between remittances and the financial sector in growth in my dissertation, as the issue of leveraging and borrowing from banking systems by remittance-receiving households is central to my dissertation topic. In particular, I want to look at the possibility of commercial banks opening lines of credit for remittance-receiving households, based on the earning of the migrant. Additionally, I will consider this papers analysis of cyclical properties of remittances to assess whether they are procyclical and predominantly profit-driven or countercyclical. Accordingly, I aim to analyse the relationship of Tajikistan GDP and capital flows and see if they are correlated. PALEI, L.V. KOROBKOV, A.V. (2007) Migrant Remittances in the CIS: The Financial and the Socio-Economic Impact, Paper presented at the International Studies Association 48th annual meeting, Chicago, IL. This paper studies the current labour migration trends in the countries of the CIS and analyses the role of remittances as a means of socio-economic stabilisation in labour migrant source countries. It also provides the core causes of migration and its aspects in the context of a globalising world. Moreover, the authors examine how remittances could play an important role in the development of the country and what policies governments should adopt in order to better utilise the development potential of remittances. The paper is valuable as a source of background information on the causes and nature of migration processes in countries of the CIS. It also provides figures on the total number of migrants and remittances sent by them. Moreover, the authors identify remittances as one of the major stabilising factors of an economy and justify this by presenting statistics on remittances as a percentage of national GDPs. The important thing about this paper was that it focused very much on Tajikistan as one the major labour migration source countries. UNDP (2005) Central Asia Human Development Report, UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. This report studies the level of human development in Central Asian Republics. Throughout the report, the importance of increased regional cooperation in economic and other spheres of activities is repeatedly underlined. While mentioning some of the significant vulnerabilities of the region as being, for example, largely landlocked- the report also highlights the newly emerging opportunities availability of natural resource and being surrounded by fast developing countries. In conclusion, the report stresses the necessity to continue the process of reform in different sectors of economy. This report is a good source of so called country â€Å"baseline data†. It provided statistics on economic, demographic, social, and environmental aspects of a countrys development. Additionally, it looks specifically at the issue of labour migration and its economic, social, and cultural aspect. Being prepared by UNDP an organization, particularly active in Tajikistan- the report gains additional reliability and accuracy. AMUEDO-DORANTES, C. (2006) Remittances and Their Microeconomic Impacts: Evidence from Latin America, Journal of Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 187-197. Amuedo-Dorantes provides an overview of the remitting patterns of migrants, from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru, working and residing in the United States. She summarizes the microeconomic impacts of remittances, particularly on spheres of employment, business ownership, education and health care investments. Furthermore she emphasises the importance of remittances as a resource for the accumulation of human capital investments in education and health and as a determinant of employment patterns in remittance-receiving households in developing economies. This publication gave me the idea concerning the appropriate categorisation of purposes of remitting into two broad groups; consumption, which consists of food/maintenance, purchase of a vehicle, recreation/entertainment expenses and debt payment; and asset accumulation/investment, which consists of construction, repair or purchase of a house, purchase of tools, livestock, agriculture inputs, start/expand of business, education and health expenses and savings. BORJAS, G.L. (1999) The Economic Analysis of Immigration, in the Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol 3a, 1698-1757. This particular paper investigates labour market affects of immigration in both the host and home country. Borjas emphasises the measuring of relative skills of immigrants and evaluation of implications of relative skill differentials on economic outcomes. The author focuses on different environments and premises where the human capital of the source country influences the labour market of the host country. That is, an analysis of the factors that determine the skills of immigrants; a discussion of the implications of the income-maximization hypothesis for the skill composition of the self-selected immigrant flow, an estimation of how the skills of immigrants compare to those of natives -both at the time of entry and over time as immigrants adapt to the host countrys labor market, an examination of the concept of economic adaptation with analysis of the relationship nature of an immigrants â€Å"pre-existing† skills and the skills that the immigrant acquires in the host countr y, and finally, an evalution of the impact of immigration on the wage structure in the host country. This paper provides an important and basic understanding of the affect that immigration has on the economy of a host country. I will use the models and generalisations found in Borjas paper to analyse the migration pattern between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation. Furthermore I will use them for policy recommendation and measures in my dissertation. LEE-NAH, H. (2007) Outcome evaluation of HIV program in Tajikistan, Final report, Retrieved July 12, 2008 from http://www.undp.tj/files/ev/ev_report.pdf. The evaluation study outlined in the report was commissioned by UNDP, Tajikistan and is aimed at assessing the impact of two HIV related programs which were implemented in the country. These programs dealt with working on HIV prevention and mitigation in the following target groups: labour migrants and their families, prisoners, habitual drug users, sex workers, school youth, etc. The evaluation methods used included the thorough review of relevant documents and statistics, interviews, and site visits. The report provided an in depth analysis of the current situation with AIDS/HIV in Tajikistan and an indication of the success rate of the implemented programs, concluding with a set of recommendations on different levels of intervention and target groups. The report presented a very good source as a synthesized analysis of different documents and statistics available on HIV in Tajikistan. Specifically, it provided statistical data on the overall official number of people infected in the population (while also citing unofficial estimates), prevalence figures, and broke down the infected persons into different groups (including labour migrants). It also outlined the efforts which are being made to prevent the proliferation of HIV among labour migrants and recommendations to improve this process. The report, however, did not specifically feature any future projections of HIV infection spreading due to increasing number of labour migrants and their exposure to countries with much higher prevalence figures than those in Tajikistan. Remittances and Financial Sector in Tajikistan â€Å"Migration from Tajikistan and the consequent remittances have been unprecedented in their magnitude and economic impact.† IMF, Alexei Kiriyev, page 4-5 The measuring of remittances magnitude is still not definite:

Never: High School High Essay

Dropping out of school is an issue faced by many teens today. I feel that there are many reasons why students want to and do dropout of school. Due to my research students use dropping out of school as a way to escape from their problems. Further in this paper I will provide you with the information telling you what I recollect the problems are. One of the greatest problems students have in countries such as the US is dropping out of school. I feel that the most average reason for students turning to dropping out is because of them being affected by their family problems. One way they could become affected is by their family, is having obsessive parents. Students might feel if they stop going to school it could be the only way to get back at parents that act in such manner. Another reason for students dropping out of schools is because of their family income. Everyone knows that young people these days have the thought that they need flashy and expensive clothing to go to school. Students could also have the thought because of misguidance. They could have a family that has been raised on relying on something other than school for a key into happiness. I think if students have some desire for school one will work their ups and downs out throughout the school years. See it is possible for family to be the problem that’s makes some drop out. If a student does not feel well, it is most likely that the student’s performance decreases. I feel if the student has no desire what so ever for school there no way the student will make it through school. School is another object that forces students to give up and dropout. Changes of the family environment might also affect the student’s progression, if a parent dies, another child is born, the student has a child, and the circumstances change significantly. And some teaching staff teaches to fast and with the teacher moving too fast could cause failure in grades and that also makes students give up. Anything that causes a student to feel unsafe could make them dropout. Additionally, teachers could be the reason as well. The student is the last reason I will tell you about but is not the last reason known. If you want a good future go through school and there’s a 90% percent better chance your life will turn out better. The other students gets the student to dropout to see what happens to them because they really is the one who wants to but isn’t sure what will happen. No matter what your problems are you shouldn’t drop out of school. Teachers could be teaching in a way that’s not making the course interesting, which also could make the student bored with the course and not getting any motivation from the teaching staff leads to less attendance of the course. It’s been known for years that young people who do not earn a high school diploma face many more problems later in life than people who graduate. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, have poor health, live in poverty, be on public assistance, and be single parents. National leaders have demanded that schools, communities, and families take major steps to retain students but the dropout rate remains high. Every 29 seconds, another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million American dropouts a year – or 7,000 every day. What defines a dropout? Dropping out is defined as leaving school without a high school diploma or equivalent credential such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics. Characteristics of Students Who Drop Out Social economic Background. National data show that students from low-income families are 2. 4 times more likely to drop out of school than are children from middle-income families, and 10. 5 times more likely than students from high-income families. Disabilities. Students with disabilities are also more likely to drop out. The National Transition Study estimates that as many as 36. 4% of disabled youth drop out of school before completing a diploma or certificate. Race-ethnicity. Hispanics and African Americans are at greater risk of dropping out than whites. Hispanics are twice as likely as African Americans to drop out. White and Asian American students are least likely to drop out. Academic Factors. National research also indicates that academic factors are clearly related to dropping out. Students who receive poor grades, who repeat a grade, or who are over-age for their class are more likely to drop out. Absenteeism. Students who have poor attendance for reasons other than illness are also more likely to drop out. Clearly, students who miss school fall behind their peers in the classroom. This, in turn, leads to low self-esteem and increases the likelihood that at-risk students will drop out of school. Occupational Aspirations. Young people’s perceptions of the economic opportunities available to them also play a role in their decision to drop out or stay in school. Dropouts often have lower occupational aspirations than their peers. Predictive Factors. The following individual-level factors are all strongly predictive of dropping out of high school: Grade retention (being held back to repeat a grade) Poor academic performance Moves location during high school High absenteeism High absenteeism The student’s feeling that no adult in the school cares about his or her welfare Reasons young people give for dropping out: Didn’t like school in general or the school they were attending Were failing, getting poor grades, or couldn’t keep up with school work Didn’t get along with teachers and/or students Had disciplinary problems, were suspended, or expelled. Didn’t feel safe in school Got a job, had a family to support, or had trouble managing both school and work Got married, got pregnant, or became a parent Had a drug or alcohol problem Consequences of dropping out: In recent years, advances in technology have fueled the demand for a highly skilled labor force, transforming a high school education into a minimum requirement for entry into the labor market. Because high school completion has become a basic prerequisite for many entry-level jobs, as well as higher education, the economic consequences of leaving high school without a diploma are severe. Earnings Potential. On average, dropouts are more likely to be unemployed than high school graduates and to earn less money when they eventually secure work. Employed dropouts in a variety of studies reported working at unskilled jobs or at low-paying service occupations offering little opportunity for upward mobility. Dropping out, in turn, causes other secondary, indirect problems: Public Assistance. High school dropouts are also more likely to receive public assistance than high school graduates who do not go on to college. In fact, one national study noted  that dropouts comprise nearly half of the heads of households on welfare. Single Parents. This increased reliance on public assistance is likely due, at least in part, to the fact that young women who drop out of school are more likely to have children at younger ages and more likely to be single parents than high school graduates. Prisons. The individual stresses and frustrations associated with dropping out have social implications as well: dropouts make up a disproportionate percentage of the nation’s prisons and death row inmates. One research study pointed out that 82% of America’s prisoners are high school dropouts. Why do so many students drop out school? Why do students drop out? Today MPs expressed impatience with universities for failure to block the hemorrhage of students from their courses. In the five years since the public accounts committee’s (PAC) last report on university dropout rates, just over a fifth of students still quit their original course. According to the latest figures in today’s PAC report, around 28,000 full-time and 87,000 part-time students who started first-degree courses in 2004-05 were no longer in higher education a year later. This is despite ? 800m being paid to universities over the same period to help retain those students most likely to leave their courses early. Last summer’s National Audit Office (NAO) cited several, inter-related reasons, among them personal and financial reasons, homesickness, failing to bond, dissatisfaction with, or the wrong choice of, course – where working-class students in particular may lack the confidence to change course or institution. But the PAC report suggests widening participation – the government’s desire to see more students with no history of higher education going to university – is partly to blame. But is widening participation really responsible for high dropout rates? Certainly the committee concludes that universities need to do better at providing the kind of teaching and support services those students from under-represented groups need. And there is â€Å"great disparity† between universities in the rate at which students continue to a second year of study. According to the committee’s chairman, Edward Leigh, comprehensive and reliable information upon which decisions on how to improve retention can be based – including data on why students leave – is missing in many cases. â€Å"Personal tuition and pastoral  care should also be given a higher priority and appropriate resources, especially as many universities are large and can be impersonal,† he explained. His committee’s 2002 report recommended more funding to support students from low-income backgrounds, tackling skills gaps, supporting students with disabilities and providing more information for potential students. On top of better data collection, today’s report concludes that universities should provide additional remedial academic support for students and more access to tutors for pastoral and academic help, especially as the number of students entering institutions increases. But vice-chancellors argue their universities have coped admirably with among the best student completion rates for HE internationally, despite student numbers rising by 25% between 1999 and 2004. Universities UK (UUK) president Prof Rick Trainor said: â€Å"Universities are committed to supporting their students throughout their time in higher education and have introduced many initiatives and schemes designed specifically to help students complete their studies – for example, mentoring, study skills and support. † But he conceded there was â€Å"room for improvement in certain areas†. In particular, UUK is looking at whether students who decide to leave could fill in an â€Å"exit questionnaire† to give universities more information on their reasons for dropping out. Pam Tatlow, chief executive of the Million+ group of new universities, wants to see the government commission research to look at the costs to universities of recruiting and supporting different types of students. â€Å"Our research shows that different fee regimes for full-time and part-time students [who respectively pay at the end of their course or up front] is a disincentive for people who are struggling to stay on,† she said. Quite a few universities perform better than the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hence) benchmark sets for them, she explained: â€Å"Universities lose money if they don’t retain their students so it’s in their interest to improve retention rates. † But the money universities get for widening participation or part-time students – â€Å"premium† – does not cover costs, she warned. And universities that do more to widen participation are also likely to have more mature students who are more vulnerable to dropping out: 14% compared with 6. 8% of young entrants. Gamma Tumult, president of the National Union of Students, said: â€Å"It is vital that [widening participation] institutions are funded fairly to provide academic, pastoral and financial support – otherwise, we risk admitting students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds on a false promise. † â€Å"Markets in fees and bursaries will only exacerbate this situation and that must be taken into account in the 2009 review,† she added. Tumult also backed the idea of an exit survey and called for â€Å"more transparency† on how money is being spent. This would enable universities to reallocate funds where they are really needed, she said. Hence, which allocates universities’ widening participation funding, said it was positive drop out rates had stayed the same despite huge increases in student numbers. A spokesman said: â€Å"The funding is worthwhile because if students from non-traditional backgrounds do get through the first year in particular, they do stand a very good chance of succeeding. † Hefted is planning to hold a number of workshops with the NAO and HE representatives in March and April on how to improve performance and retention, which will inform its response to the report. As academics and administrators talk, thousands of students continue to drop out and experience the difficulties, financial and personal, this brings. The sector still seems no closer to a solution. Why Teens Drop Out of School Teens drop out of school for many reasons, and the decision to drop out is rarely spur of the moment. Kids usually drop out of school following a long process of disengagement and academic struggle. Many teens say they were bored and frustrated with classes that didn’t seem relevant to their life. Or they felt they had fallen so far behind they eventually gave up hope. Teen’s report that no one really cared about their school experience, or they felt subtly â€Å"pushed out† by school staff who perceived them as difficult or dangerous. What is absolutely predictable is that many kids who don’t finish high school do poorly in life. Without a high school diploma they will have a harder time finding a job, and they will earn much less when they do find one (about a million dollars less over a lifetime). They are more likely to have poor health, to live in poverty, and to have children at an early age, who in turn are also more likely to drop out of school. Nationally, seventy percent of inmates in prison didn’t graduate from high school. We often ask ourselves why some teens drop out of school. While some may have obvious reasons, other teens seem like a mystery and we have a hard time figuring out why some of them would drop out. Not all students are equal, some simply have special needs and school becomes too hard for them. This includes children with emotional issues, behavioral problems, learning disabilities and other teen problems that may interfere with their school work and the ability to learn. But these are not the only reasons; some kids from certain cultural background simply fail to blend into a school where another ethnicity is dominant. There are also teens that come from homes which are not supportive enough and they lack the motivation to finish school. Teens that drop out can be from both rich and poor families, but poor children with low economic standards and children of single parents have a higher risk of dropping out of high school. The rates of teens that drop out of schools depend on various factors. Teen boys are more likely to drop out of school than girls. Also Hispanic and African American teens are more likely to drop out than Asian American students and Caucasians. Students in large cities are also more likely to drop out than students from small towns and suburbs. As you can see dropping out of school can happen because of learning issues and development or even because of social factors like ethnicity and family heritage. Some of the most common reasons that influence a teen to drop out of school include: – History of poor academic achievements. – Older than classmates due to being left behind – Emotional issues – Behavioral problems – Learning disabilities – Influence by low achieving peers – Low attendance – Social issues – Family problems The reasons are plenty, and they can go from family issues and even history of abuse, drug related issues, mental problems to social issues, low standard, peer pressure, up to medical issues like poor health. Some teens get pregnant so they drop out of school, some teens simply lost interest. One of the factors is the teacher’s attitude and behavior towards students. Most students that dropped out of school reported that they were either ignored and not given enough attention by their teachers or that they were actually encouraged by their teachers to drop out of school. We all know that a teacher can sometimes go after a student; the pressure can very well be the cause of dropping out. Again, the reasons are plenty and as such it is hard to concentrate on prevention as various factors influence this outcome. While the reasons kids drop out vary, the following are six important risk factors: 1. Academic difficulty and failure. Struggling in school and failing classes is one of the main reasons teens drop out, and this pattern often shows up early. Students who fail eighth grade English or math, for example, are seventy-five percent more likely to drop out of high school. 2. Poor attendance. Teens who struggle in school are also absent a lot, and along with academic failure, absenteeism is an important future predictor for dropping out. As with the previous example, students who are absent for twenty percent of their eighth grade year (one day per week) are also highly likely to drop out in high school. 3. Being held back (retention). Linked to academic difficulty, students who are held back and who are older than the kids in their grade also tend to drop out. 4. Disengagement from school. Many kids who drop out say that school was boring and teachers did little to connect learning to real life. They didn’t feel invested in their school and they didn’t feel that adults seemed interested in them or their high school experience. 5. Transition to a new school. A poor transition from the smaller, more protected environment of middle school to the anonymity of a high school can cause a teen to have difficulty catching up-and some kids never do. 6. Other life factors. Pregnancy, family problems, and financial difficulties are all factors that distract a student from schoolwork and make keeping up more challenging. The good news is that dropping out is easily prevented. Most teens who drop out had at least passing grades, and these kids say that, with some help, they could have completed high school. Parents who are involved in their kids’ education often make the difference between academic success and failure. Kids do better when their parents care: when parents make sure their kids get to school and are progressing well and when parents communicate their expectations for success. If problems arise, involved parents have laid a solid foundation for dealing with them. Start early to prevent high school dropouts. Read the article â€Å"Seven Middle School Ideas to Stay Ahead for Parents† for tips.

Crude Oil Last 10 Years - 4918 Words

INTRODUCTION The role of petroleum products in our lives is unquestionable. It is safe to say that oil is the cornerstone of our civilization. A pessimist might argue that without oil our industrial society will collapse and there will be rapid decline in the world population. But again that is a pessimist’s view, personally we would like to think that we will in near future find other energy sources on which we can depend and build our civilization to reach the next milestone. In this report we have tried to highlight the fluctuations of crude oil during the period of 2001-10. The scope of this report is limited only to this period as we believe that events that took place during this decade had the potential to change the oil game so†¦show more content†¦Thus the oil market participants – producers, refiners, marketers, and traders – would not have one of their bases for setting prices in their contracts and other transactions. It does not appear that the oil industry was materially affected by the closing of the Nymex, which, in any event, resumed all operations in about one week. While the immediate effect of the attacks on petroleum markets was to drive prices up, market forces – reflecting little change in supply and demand – acted quickly, and crude oil prices eased within little more than a week. Average crude oil prices paid by U.S. refiners actually declined for the month of September 2001 – falling to $ 20.82 per barrel from $24.08 in the previous month. 2002: After moving lower in 2001, crude oil prices moved higher in 2002 reaching over $30 per barrel in September 2002. Higher prices were supported by a number of factors. One was the ongoing U.S. war on terrorism and rising tensions with Iraq. There was the likely potential that military action would be taken against Iraq that would disrupt the supply of crude oil to the market. With that issue still not settled as 2002 drew to a close, crude oil prices continued to find support. While there were factors supporting higher prices, there were also factors working against them. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after a meeting in 2001 agreed that production of oil would be cut. TheShow MoreRelatedOil Prices And Rise And Fall Of Chinese Economy Essay1125 Words   |  5 PagesFalling crude oil prices and rise and fall of Chinese economy Who’s afraid of falling crude oil prices? Isn’t it something to celebrate from the consumers’ point of view, especially in the Asian region! The answer is perhaps â€Å"no†. Though the debate over the impact of plunge in crude oil price and its implications will continue for long, nothing can be said with fair amount of certainty as long as its link with the slowdown of Chinese economy. 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