I can make a good prediction of your economic future based on
only one statistic
– how much education you have by age 25. The prediction does not
apply to individuals, but to groups; if you are part of the group
you’re most likely to go as the group goes. Groups with a college
degree will suffer far less unemployment and make a lot more money
than groups without a college degr
ee. Money is not everything, but all else being equal, it helps
a lot.
I can make a good prediction of your economic future based on only one statistic – how much education you have by age 25. The prediction does not apply to individuals, but to groups; if you are part of the group you’re most likely to go as the group goes. Groups with a college degree will suffer far less unemployment and make a lot more money than groups without a college degree. Money is not everything, but all else being equal, it helps a lot.
We’ve all heard stories about people who quit school and became a great success; perhaps you even know some. That looks like an easy way out, but those cases are relatively rare. For the most part your educational level predicts how you will do.
This time of year sees the celebration of many high school and college graduations. Those who completed college are well on their way to a better economic life. High school graduates have to make a decision; should they continue their education or go to work, that is if they can find work. Those who dropped out before graduating high school have already made a decision – a bad one.
Annually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes education related data – education levels, unemployment rates, and earnings for full-time workers age 25 and over. Every year the story is the same; the more education you have the better you do. In 2010, the average U.S. unemployment rate was 8.2 percent and the median annual earnings were $40,670. Median means that half of the group has earnings were above that number and half below.
Those with less than a high school diploma had an unemployment rate of 14.9 percent and median annual earnings of $23,100. Those with a high school diploma had an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent and median annual earnings of $32,550.
The group that had some college, but no degree, had an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent and median annual earnings of $37,025 a year. Notice that this group still had higher than average unemployment and lower median earnings than workers did overall. An associate’s degree slides you to about the middle; it reduces your group unemployment rate to 7.0 percent and the lifts the median annual earnings increase to $39,885.
A bachelor’s degree gives you the big boost, the unemployment rate falls to 5.4 percent and the median annual earnings jump to $53,975 a year. The unemployment rate for those with a Bachelor’s degree is about one-third that of a high school dropout and the median earnings 2.3 times more.
A master’s degree, Professional degree, and Doctoral degree generally follow suit; unemployment rates are 4.0 percent, 2.4 percent, and 1.9 percent and the median annual earnings are $66,145, $83,730 and $80,600, respectively. I update these statistics almost every year and the general pattern never changes.
Decisions regarding education are lifetime decisions and you may be making them when you’re only 17 or even younger. School is a routine like everything else, once you break that routine it’s much harder to get back to it than it would have been to keep going. Of course, the real purpose of education is to learn, but there is nothing wrong with making some extra bucks as a bonus. If you put in the work now, you will not have to work as hard later in life and if you continue your education, you are sure to learn something.
If you stay in school, I predict you will have a brighter future.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
