Go to school. Be financially responsible. Work hard. These are the tenets we teach our children about the responsible pursuit of the American Dream. Yet for some of the hardest-working students from low-income families, following these tenets has not led to the success they have been promised. These low-income working learners are going to school more and working more hours, yet struggling to make it. They have been failed by
- an education system that perpetuates intergenerational inequality;
- a labor market that offers them fewer high-quality job opportunities with career-building work experience while they are in school;
- skyrocketing college prices that make it practically impossible to work one’s way throughvcollege anymore;
- poor information about education and career pathways and their outcomes;
- and a lack of sufficient support mechanisms and financial and social safety nets.
.jpeg)