Written by Steven Hansen
Simply put – you do NOT have to go to university to be successful or make good money.
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I find many holes in the data I review – as it specifically is designed to separate earning by education [and not skills]. The employment and earnings data should be segregated by skill sets – with education only being one of the skills identified. If you graduate high school and do not learn or have skills, your earning potential is minimum wage. There is data point after data point which shows those with only a high school diploma are at the bottom of the earning scales.
There are nearly 125,000,000 non-farm private jobs in the USA. And over 100,000,000 of these jobs are non-supervisory / skilled workers which do not require a university education.
Source: BLS Jobs Report
And not many of these non-supervisory / skilled workers jobs are near minimum wage.
Source: BLS Jobs Report
The percentage of the population with a bachelor’s Degree or higher is growing.
Source: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20-578.pdf
And the number of non-supervisory / skilled worker jobs grow faster than the workforce in general.
Random thoughts on Skills Vs. University Education
- It is true that the AVERAGE college graduate makes more than the average skilled laborer. But the skilled worker was in the jobs market earlier, and generally takes on much less education debt.
- Most poor and middle class families spend all the money they make – regardless of education levels. Generally the more you make, the more you spend on food, shelter and clothing. From the Financial Samarai which shows literally 90% of the population saves little:
- When I went to high school, skills were taught. It was understood that many did not belong in universities – and skills were taught in shop processes, agriculture, and business.
- A great infographic is [here] on why one should consider trade school instead of college.
- A good list of jobs for high school graduates is [here].
Before entering the job market, most do not give deep consideration to planning their working career. They are looking for a job.
Other Economic News this Week:
The Econintersect Economic Index for November 2017 returned to the range of normal growth after last month’s brief dip. Still, the economic fundamentals are somewhat chaoic. Six-month employment growth forecast is now indicating slowing growth.
Bankruptcies this Week from bankruptcydata.com: Rooster Energy, Privately-held Think Finance, Privately-held M & G Polymers USA
