by kleinbl00
This is one of those slices of life that you don't really see unless it's staring you in the face. I saw a blurb in The Week which was sourced from US News which leads back to this heartbreaking rough ride which takes you back to questionable sources like this but then you follow the links and you end up staring this in the face:
n Eastern Kentucky, authorities say two key factors have combined to exacerbate the problem: a rapidly declining coal industry and drug addiction.Schools in Harlan County had Kentucky's highest percentage of homeless students in the 2013-14 school year, with 26 percent classified as homeless.
T. Michael Howard, the superintendent of Harlan County Schools, said he thinks the number — 1,255 students — is accurate.
"We have so many students who move around, and they are no longer living with their parents but with family members," Howard said. "This is a poor, poor part of the state. We have kids who are living in campers, and that meets the definition of homeless."
And when the Democrats say they'll try to help (while also saying "We Are Going To Put A Lot Of Coal Miners & Coal Companies Out Of Business") but Trump says he'll "Make America Great Again" it makes sense to vote for certainty, even if you know it's a lie, and maybe you don't, because one in four of your fucking high schoolers is trying to get a diploma without a permanent address.
Of 3,142 counties in the United States in 2013, Harlan County ranked 3,139 in the longevity of both male and female residents. Males in Harlan County lived an average of 66.5 years and females lived an average of 73.1 years compared to the national average for longevity of 76.5 for males and 81.2 for females. Moreover, the average longevity in Harlan County declined by 0.6 years for males and 2.6 years for females between 1985 and 2013 compared to a national average for the same period of an increased life span of 5.5 years for men and 3.1 years for women. High rates of smoking and obesity and a low level of physical activity appear to be contributing factors to the lowered longevity for both sexes.
Mining employment in Harlan County rose to 13,619 in 1950. The number of employed miners had declined to 764 by June 2016. During the same period, the population of Harlan County declined from 71,000 to less than 28,000. Unemployment has been as high as 20 percent (September 1995) and has consistently been higher than the U.S national average. Unemployment in December 2016 was 9.5 percent, compared to 4.8 percent in the nation as a whole. Harlan County ranked in the highest 10 percent of all United States counties in the prevalence of poverty among its residents.