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U.S. News & World Report
13 Million Good Jobs
Available for Those With High School Diplomas
The high school pathway provides 20 percent of all good jobs
By Lauren Camera, Education Reporter
Oct. 16, 2018
DESPITE THE PUSH AMONG policymakers to steer more people toward a
four-year degree, a new report shows that 13 million jobs are still
available for those with nothing more than a high school diploma.
The figure was among the top-line findings of a report released Tuesday
by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce,
which shows how the number of jobs available for certain education
attainment levels has changed over time. The center's researchers
collaborated with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to produce the report.
"The fact that good jobs for high school workers have persisted to the
extent that they have is a testament to the resilience of this
pathway," the researchers concluded in the report. "The high school
economy will likely remain a stable pathway to good jobs in the near
term even as older workers with no more than a high school diploma
continue to retire."
In taking a historic look at jobs available for each education
attainment level, researchers found that in 1991, there were 15 million
good high school jobs, 12 million good middle-skills jobs and 18
million good bachelor's degree jobs. By 2016, the high school pathway
decreased to 13 million good jobs, the middle-skills pathway grew to 16
million good jobs and the bachelor's degree pathway doubled to 36
million good jobs.
Researchers defined "good jobs" as ones that pay at least $35,000 and
average $56,000 for workers with less than a bachelor's degree and
average $65,000 for those with a bachelor's degree or higher.
They were quick to underscore that the future economy for those with
nothing more than a high school diploma remains uncertain, but as of
now it's continuing to provide good jobs. About 27 percent of young
workers ages 25-34, or 2.9 million young workers total, who have only
their high school diploma have managed to nab a good job. That figure
is down only slightly from 29 percent in 1991.
Overall, researchers found that the high school pathway still provides
20 percent of all good jobs.
"While it's no surprise that the BA economy has doubled the number of
good jobs it provides, it really struck us that the high school economy
still provides 13 million good jobs," Anthony Carnevale, director of
CEW and lead author of the report, said in a statement. "We also found
it surprising that even though blue-collar jobs declined, middle-skills
jobs have grown considerably."
Indeed, all of the growth of new good jobs available to those without a
bachelor's degree has been in "middle-skills jobs," especially among
those that require an associate's degree.
Researchers defined the middle-skills industry as those jobs that
require more education than a high school diploma but less than a
bachelor's degree, including certificates and certification programs,
licenses, associate's degrees or some college work. The middle-skills
pathway encompasses 24 percent of all good jobs, they found, and most
of the industry's growth was in skilled-services industries and
skilled-technical good jobs in blue-collar industries.
"Despite the common misconception that the middle-skills economy has
hollowed out, good jobs in this sector have seen robust growth, even in
the blue collar sector," Jeff Strohl, director of research at the CEW
and co-author of the report, said in a statement.
To be sure, workers with a bachelor's degree have access to the
greatest number of good jobs – 36 million, to be exact, or 56 percent
of all good jobs. Researchers also found that 74 percent of those with
bachelor's degrees or higher have good jobs compared to 38 percent of
workers without a bachelor's degree.
Read this and other articles at U.S. News & World Report
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