Families and Children Fleeing Cleveland

As Cleveland, Ohio has lost population over the last decade, a disproportionate number of those leaving town are families with children. Today, only 10% of the city's population is nuclear families.

1 minute read

May 11, 2010, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Underperforming schools in the city is one predictable reason for "family flight."

Robert L. Smith writes, ""This is definitely not trivial," said Claudia Coulton, a professor of urban research and social change at Case Western Reserve University. "I think we're losing households with children and we're losing children, period."

Coulton noted that enrollment in the Cleveland public schools plunged this decade -- by about 35 percent -- while the city's 18-and-under population shrank by 23 percent."

Monday, May 10, 2010 in The Cleveland Plain Dealer

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