Families and incomes

Of all 16- to 21-year-olds in the US, some 53 percent ( a little more than half) have completed high school and their families enjoy incomes in the top two-thirds bracket, according to recent Carnegie Council estimates.

Whites fall into this combined category (high school completion and family income in the top two-thirds) at 59 percent; Hispanic youth at 31 percent; Black 16- to 21-year- olds at 27 percent.

Of young people who have not completed high school and whose families are in the bottom one-third in income, Hispanics measure out at a staggering 40 percent. That is, 2 of every 5 Hispanic young adults in the US are poor and uneducated.