Gloom Widespread as College Grads Face New Math

[dkf]

On average, wages for workers with four-year college degrees fell by 8.6% adjusted for inflation between 2000 and 2010, according to government data. For them, it has been a lost decade.

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Still, the gloomy mood of so many college-educated Americans reflects their economic reality. Chart the Census Bureau's numbers for the median pretax income of families headed by a college grad, adjusted for inflation. It rises to a peak of $99,431 in 1999 and then turns down; last year, it was 9% below the peak, $90,636. The economy grew, but their incomes didn't. One in six of today's currently unemployed—2.4 million people—has a bachelor's degree.

Things are worse for the young. The unemployment rate for recent college grads is 10.7%. More than 14% of Americans between 25 and 34 (5.9 million in all) are living with their parents, up significantly from before the recession. Nearly a quarter of them have bachelor's degrees.

Having a college degree no longer guarantees a rising wage or a shot at the American dream. That is contributing to a widespread sense that the U.S. economy isn't working any longer for the bulk of Americans. Two-thirds of those polled by The Wall Street Journal—two-thirds!—said they aren't confident life for their children's generation will be better than it has been for them. This loss of confidence is corrosive.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204505304576654842642615166.html

[Fumesucker]

1. Maybe if their parents hadn't voted for Dubya?

The sins of the fathers and all that..

[KansDem]

2. Maybe if their grandparents hadn't voted for The Gipper?

Sins of the grandfathers...?

[Fumesucker]

3. That sins of the fathers thing goes back seven generations..

I think that should cover it..

Even in Alabama.

[MedicalAdmin]

9. Duzy.

[hack89]

4. I would like to see a breakdown between science and non-science degrees

I suspect there is a significant difference.

[Fumesucker]

5. I have read lengthy threads on DU about science degrees..

The general consensus is that once you get to about forty or so it really doesn't matter much what degree you have, your desirability as an employee drops rapidly after that.

[hack89]

6. Not really

there will always be fields where talent is scarce and in demand - plus 40 is the age where many engineers and scientist make the move into management. A common problem, especially in computer science, is that many people have not managed their careers such that they find themselves at 50 doing a job that a 25 year old can do. You have to find a niche or specialty where experience is important. A good example in computer science would be internet security - those mid-career people that saw the trend and and took the time to gain the experience, education and certifications are in very high demand right now.

You are right that you reach a point where your actual experience is more important than your degree - you still have to manage your career and not assume that a degree is worth a lifetime of employment. A degree simply gets you on the right track.

[Fumesucker]

8. I guess all those posters were lying about their experiences..

Predicting the future, particularly in technology, is a piece of cake.

[hack89]

11. Please don't put words in my mouth

in a country where tens of millions work you can always find a large number of people that have negative experiences. You can also find just as many whose experiences are exactly the opposite.

I know many people, including myself, who are doing just fine. I don't like to brag about it here because I understand how upsetting it would be to some here. But the fact that I don't post about it does not make not true.

[NutmegYankee]

23. I know engineering is the opposite.

An engineer in their 50's is something most companies want. They teach the younger engineers who to handle problems and they have the experience to quickly solve problems. Experience has always meant a lot in engineering. A lifetime of learning from mistakes is Golden.

[bluestate10]

14. Those with technical degrees are faring much better.

There is a shortage of engineers in the country currently.

[ThomWV]

7. I despise posts like this because it encourages ignorance

So what's the solution, get less education? Of course not. Education is the only sure way out of relative poverty - and make no mistake, the poverty in this country is relative.

[MedicalAdmin]

10. The solution is exactly what you say.

But with a rational system of support for public education as an investment of the future of the country.

That is not the current reality.

[bluestate10]

16. Reality is what people make it.

One item that I love about OWS is that the activity is changing the conversation. It is beginning to change decision making and finally, policy. Such is the history of mass movements. A Mike Blomberg may have tried to bully the occupiers at first, then resign to their presence, with occasional acts of intimidation, then hope that winter would drive occupiers away. Well, we will see how much each side is willing to sacrifice. Buy warm winter jackets for occupiers, jackets with hoods and that are water proof. Buy and send winter gloves and winter shoes. Fights are won when one side refuses to back down. OWS supporters must make the fight painful for Blomberg.

[MedicalAdmin]

21. I love that too.

And for the first time in over a decade I actually think that fundamental change is possible.

It's pedal to the metal time.

[customerserviceguy]

12. Do you equate not having a college degree with ignorance?

I only did two years of undergrad at a state university 35 years ago, then went on to add an associate's degree in computer networking later in life (not using that, either) and believe me, you don't want to be on the other side of the Trivial Pursuit board from me.

You know all that accountability talk that we've seen for the last couple of decades about public schools? There is no such thing going on with post-secondary education, and its about time that we started talking about it. But as long as students and parents are willing to go deeply into hock, with government as the ultimate deep-pocket lender, nobody will hold the higher education system liable for anything.

We all know that medical costs go up faster than the general rate of inflation, and there are discussions from all sides of that issue, with proposed solutions out the kazoo, but I don't see that with the higher education industry, even though tuition and fees rise faster than ordinary inflation, too.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. "Education is the only sure way out of relative poverty."

Maybe. So long as college graduates are all fighting with one another for the job in the advertising agencies, engineering firms and IT companies, it creates a shortage among those with a CDL, a plumbing licence or heavy equipment training.

There will always be a need for ditch diggers, and there's a finite number of "high skill jobs" (a very misleading term).

[bluestate10]

18. I agree.

There is always a need for engineers, scientists and managers. But there is also a need for people to build or make the products, package products and sell products. There is a need for people to clean the toilets and fix toilets when they are broken. The problem with american business is that people that perform the majority of job functions are viewed as expendable.

[bluestate10]

15. I despise post like this because all they do is whine.

I have been, am and will continue to be a proponent of the view that if people don't like current reality, they should make personal decisions to change it.

I see long, long screeds on DU decrying President Obama. Some of the people writing the garbage have NEVER attacked a republican office holder that I can tell. Makes me wonder about their real politics. The key point is that people that are REAL progressives instead of nefarious characters masquerading as progressives can do more than any President or Congress person can by changing the simple, daily decisions that they make. Until each person takes control of those parts of their societal involvement that they can control, there won't be a fucking chance of gaining control of issues and decisions that now seem out of one's control.

[lonestarnot]

17. Education! Once you get it, it cannot be repoed!

:7

[bluestate10]

19. The key is doing something with it, even if one has to start one's own business.

The shortage in american is a shortage of creative thinkers that see a need instead of a problem and work creatively to fill that need. I share the overwhelming amount of my political DNA with most here on DU, but sometime the whining about problems and the lack of understanding that every problem can be fixed is overwhelming and enraging. The 1% will continue to thumb their noses at the 99% until the 99% deliver alternative choices to the businesses and politicians that the 1% control.

[dkf]

20. Goodness how do you get that from the article?

Obviously the current income at $90,000 is above the median so it does not in any way discourage getting an education. What it does point out is that mostly everyone is affected by the trend in lower wages. There doesn't seem to be a predictable path for avoiding it for most.

[L0oniX]

22. College has become a ponzy scheme of sorts.