from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
The earnings of workers born in the later years of the baby boom (1957 – 64) increased most rapidly while they were young. At every stage of life, real wages grew at a higher rate for workers who held a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Earnings growth for these workers from ages 18 to 24 who had less than a high school diploma was 2.9 percent per year, while those with a bachelor’s degree and higher saw their earnings grow by 9.6 percent per year. As these workers reached middle age, those with less than a high school diploma experienced a decline in earnings (-1.4 percent per year). For this same group of 45- to 52-year-olds, those with a bachelor’s degree and higher saw their earnings increase by 0.5 percent. This pattern in earnings growth reflects, in part, the state of the U.S. economy during the years in which survey participants were in each age group.
These data are from the National Longitudinal Surveys. To learn more, see “Number of Jobs, Labor Market Experience, and Earnings Growth: Results from a National Longitudinal Survey.” Wages are adjusted for annual inflation.
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