College graduates earned 56% more on
average than high school grads in 2015, according to recent reports by the
Economic Policy Institute. This is an increase of 51% in 1999 and is the
largest increase since the EPI began tracking this data in 1973. College graduates were also employed at a
higher rate to begin with (83%) than high school grads (66%).
It used to be that a person could
drop out of high school and get honest work that paid enough to start a family
with. Things changed slowly, and
businesses operated using landline telephones and the mail. People expected to be in their line of work
for a lifetime. Society had a need for
people to do work that doesn’t exist as an occupation in today’s high tech,
self-serve environment.
For example, there was a time when even
an elevator required a trained professional operator (see Why Elevator Operators Went Extinct)
But improved technology eliminated that job, and the elevator operators had to
look for other work. Most parents today
know what steno was – but our kids don’t because dictation is dead thanks to
word processing. Kids also don’t plan to
be travel agents anymore – there are still a few, but they mostly operate at
the luxury end of the market. Will cab
drivers be next thanks to driverless cars?
Or is Uber already making full time driving as a profession obsolete?
But the wage disparity didn’t start
with the iphone or the internet.
According to the EPI, a large gap in wages goes back to 1979. The average of the bottom 90% of American
workers by income was $28,559. By 2015,
it only averaged $34,481 (about 22% higher, 36 years later). The top 5% of wage earners averaged $142,817
in 1979 and by 2015 were earning, on average, $287,983 – more than doubling
during the same time period. As more of
the simplest jobs become automated and technology changes, there will be more
need for educated workers such as computer programmers and healthcare
specialists.
All signs point to the importance ofa college education in the 21st century. To be sure, there will always be some jobs
that don’t require one. But as the
simplest jobs become automated, there will be fewer to be had. The only thing that seems certain is that
today’s kids will need a solid foundation in STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, & Math) along with a college education, to achieve the
American Dream.
