THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION CONFIRMED AGAIN
The importance of education for the American worker simply cannot be overstated, regardless of sex, race, or ethnic background. Educational attainment plays a critical role in virtually every worker's success. On average, the more education people have, the more likely they are to seek and find jobs, earn higher wages, and retire comfortably.
Currently, nearly 83% of all adults aged 25 or older have completed a high school education, and 24% have actually completed a college education. This is a dramatic improvement over the last generation, when only half of all Americans completed high school and fewer than 10% completed college. These figures continue to improve; now, about two-thirds of all high school graduates are reportedly going on to college. The trend is expected to continue, as the rewards to those who have more schooling continue to rise and be well-documented.
Young women are enrolling in college at a higher rate than young men. For women, it is 69%; for men, it is 62%. That trend is likely to help close the gap between men's and women's average earnings in the years ahead.
Additionally, employment rates for women are rising in our country, while men's are declining. Since 1950, the proportion of men in the labor force has declined from 86% to 75%; in contrast, in 1950, only one-third of the nation's women worked outside the home. Today, 50% of women are in the labor force.
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For those who persist in doubting the merits of education and whether or not it pays off down the line, the Labor Department has just come out with a study concerning labor and education. They say that labor market trends have widened the age gap between skilled and unskilled workers. Harry Holzer, the agency's chief economist, said that the rising importance of technology has pushed up demand for workers with advanced skills, contributing to a larger income gap.
Holzer said that "the return of education, or the difference in wages between workers with education and those without, has doubled since the 1970s. In 1979, the gap between people with a high school degree and people with a college diploma was 35%. Since then, it has reached 70%."
The Labor Department report goes on to note that with unemployment currently at about 4.1%, our labor market is at its tightest level in nearly three decades. Still, in October, the unemployment rate for those with less than a high school education was 6.6%, while the rate of unemployment for college graduates was only 1.7%.
So no matter how you slice it — whether you are measuring employability or the rewards that one gets from employment — it is clear from study after study that education does pay off.
I recently saw a highway sign somewhere in my travels which stated the case for education very directly. It was aimed at high schoolers and pre-college people, and simply said "What you do in the next four years will affect the rest of your life." That really is what is at stake, and this is another issue that is actually family-oriented.
This is not about the federal government. The people in Washington have very little control over our educational systems, which are mostly locally controlled and over 75% locally funded. This is really about families caring about youngsters, showing them the way, encouraging them to do better, making it possible for them to do better, and rewarding them when they make the effort.
I can't imagine a parent who doesn't wish a better life for their children than what they themselves have experienced. However, wishing doesn't make it so, and children — after all — are children. So parents have to show them the way, and encourage their better efforts whenever possible.
(Tom Butenhoff is a First Vice President with J. E. Liss & Company in Milwaukee. The views are his and not necessarily those of Liss Financial Services or the Job Connection/Hiring Network.)