Most High School Grads Desperate For Work, New Study Finds

Since Leighann Neil graduated from high school in 2008, she has struggled to hold onto a permanent job, and has worked as a dispatcher in addition to a gig grinding mortar. She sends out roughly 20 resumes a month for secretarial jobs, but she has yet to hear back from any.

"Employers are looking for someone who has a college degree," says Neil, 23, who has one child and another on the way. They and her child's father live with Neil's mother in Blountsville, Ala.