Edward Glaeser notes that New York City has experienced a relatively small increases in unemployment compared to the rest of the country and provides various hypotheses to explain the circumstance in "Why Is New York’s Unemployment Rate (Relatively) Low?," for the New York Times. The hypotheses are interesting and should be read, but I linked to the article because Glaeser highlights the role of education as insurance against unemployment. I hope his observation inspires and motivates students to extend their educations beyond high school.
Despite the abundance of front-page stories with headlines like “Ivy League financier is now unemployed and homeless,” unemployment is remarkably concentrated among the least-educated Americans. Today, the seasonally unadjusted numbers show that 15.1 percent of high school dropouts are unemployed; the comparable number for college graduates is 4.2 percent.
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I feel this is directly related to the benefits of having a college education. Mankiw states, "In the United States, each year of schooling has historically raised a person's wage by an average of of about 10 percent." Also, in the chapter entitle "Unemployment", it discusses reasons firms will pay high wages to workers. They give a list of qualities firms desire in their work force. Two that I can apply here are a low worker turnover and a high worker effort.
ReplyDeleteSo, the biggest benefit of a college education is an increase in pay. This increase in pay causes the benefits of staying on the job to increase and the benefits of leaving the job to decrease. So, people who receive higher wages for their work are less willing to leave a job and more likely to give a greater effort during work. They are perceiving a greater benefit of staying than leaving. This is something, as mentioned before, desired by firms in there workers. Therefore, workers who have these attributes are more likely to keep their jobs than those who do not stay on the job and don't put forth much effort. Perhaps, these are those workers who do not perceive a greater benefit of staying than leaving; maybe because they are not paid as much.
Upon reviewing this information, I can see a possible reason behind why a college education could reduce my risk of unemployment in the future.
I agree with Dena Husak's post receiving a higher education does secure your career future. By having a degree you are worth more to an employer and they will reward your worth with better pay. Also consider this you would not pursue a higher education in a field that you had no interest in would you? You will be more likely to stay on a job that you enjoy and that pays well.
ReplyDeleteWith just a High School education you are limited in what field you can enter, and there is a ceiling of how high up you can go up without a degree in most jobs. Most people with a high school diploma just settle for what ever job that they can get that pays well. Also we are living in a time where on the job experience does not matter much, it is all about the level of education that you have in that particular job field.
Dena Husak's report is very correct I believe. People with education in certain fields can secure a career down the road. High school drop outs are faced with limited careers due to lack of knowledge and skills required by most career type jobs.
ReplyDeleteThis comment seems to be correct. If you don't have advanced education to open more doors for you, in an economic crisis as such, you should be prepared to be an entrepreneur or be unemployed. Many go to college to have a better opportunity for themselves. When companies have to compare hiring someone that only has a high school education versus someone who took the time to get more knowledge for the skills needed for a job they would more than likely pick the one who was more dedicated and took time to learn more. That's life.
ReplyDeleteLaura Brown
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that education can be considered insurance against employment, but I do not agree that education will help employment prospects. The reason that the less educated have the greater level of unemployment is because the jobs that they perform are the jobs that have been eliminated because of the struggling economy and the downturn in the housing and construction markets. Many of these workers have a trade specialization that fits to their particular job and if they lose that job, there are no other jobs that fit what they do. I think that education gives flexibility and so workers can move into other jobs other than only knowing one particular job. I think that because of the technology, jobs have changed to jobs that require an education. I have heard reports that there will not be enough jobs for the educated. I don't believe we will hurt for being overeducated.
Having a eduaction do make you more compitable because with education you have a greater chance in finding a job and having a career. In New York majority of workers do have some type of college degree that is one reason why their unemployment rate is so low and they have more jobs their as well. But what do we expect to come for the near future for us will their be jobs still avaiable in some states such as New York? We things are rolling at the moment you only can say no or I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteReally?! Someone had to write an article for people to realize that a lack of education and unemployment go hand in hand? All my life I have heard that higher education will give you a better chance at financial and employment security.Also,having an education can broaden your career opportunities. You can choose to use your education to work for others or to even work for yourself.
ReplyDeleteThe number make sense. Comming out of high school you have very limited skills, much less if you never finished. So of course it is going to be harder to find a job. The purpose of college is to teach you a skill so that the employer is not having to start from scratch. You have spent your own time and money to learn that skill as opposed to wasting his. That said, just because you get a degree does not mean you get a job. The degree and skill that you trained for also factor into the equation.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to have a skill and knowledge beyond high school for the work force, but as you see today just because a person has a college degree, does not guarantee a job. No matter what job a person applies for with or without a degree they will have to be trained for that job. As stated earlier having an education can broaden a persons career opportunities ,but as you see there are many educated people without a job today. For those who drop out of high school, they will have to settle for what ever they can find unless they learn some type of trade
ReplyDeleteShanikqua Webster said...
ReplyDeleteHaving a Higher Education can only help you. It helps with better wages and you can get a degree in a career that you have passion for. You can get paid good money for something you enjoy and you chose to do. With a regular job some employers will let you know that you are replaceable, and you are. With a degree you have some type of power, and a say so. High School drop outs most of the time have to just take what they can get when it comes down to employment.
The link between higher education and lower unemployment rates is almost too obvious to mention. Historically, however, the national stance ends there, on that simplistic and insufficient note. Those with the opportunities for higher education are going to get it, and the majority of them will stay employed, even in a down market. The nation's continued error is that it fails to address the root and real causes of why so many have absolutely no chance at a higher education--forget a higher education, a remedial one. The sheer effort and resources it would take to truly address the educational malaise in this country staggers the mind and most likely scares those who could actually do something about it. Can you imagine blaming a child whose father is incarcerated and whose mother is never around for the fact that he/she does not have a "higher education?" This problem scans the social, the educational, the economic, and the political--it's only when we have an "unemployment crisis" that its surface is even scanned.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there is a major link between education and unemployment. The further a person goes with their education will increase their human capital. The more education a person has they will have a greater job security they will have. I believe the statistics stated in this blog are correct in regards to unemployment comparing high school drop outs and individuals with a college education. However, having a higher education does not mean that your job is secure.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that education has a lot to do with the unemployment rate. The more Education one has the better off they will be. One is able to hold better jobs and also have good job security. It would seem that the unemployment rate and education go hand and hand, but this does not mean that one will get a better job, it just means that you have a better chance.
ReplyDeleteI believe that education has a lot to do with the unemployment rate. It only makes sense to me that the higher your education, the more likely you are to be in the employed sector than the unemployed. However, I have heard that these days a four year degree to some employer's is like going to them with a high school diploma. They are wanting more and more of their employees to have Master's and above.
ReplyDeleteCJP said....
ReplyDeleteI think it makes complete sense that the higher your education is thenn obviouslly the better job your going to acquire. I also agree with the above posts that the level of education one has deals greatly with the rate of unemployment. But just having a simple four year degree from college isn't always enough to get the job you want to get the money you need..i think that places are looking for bigger and better people with four years+ of eduaction!
Education after high school is very important. It always helps you get better jobs. And, you will be specially certified in the area that you wish to work in. Your education relates directly with your employment. And, jobs always look for people with higher educations.
ReplyDelete-Shelby Rimlinger
I do believe that this is a very good article. In this day and time, even with a high school diploma that might not be enough to get and secure a great job. I believe that we need a degree(s) to really say they are secure in a job.
ReplyDelete-Lyntoria Davis
There is no doubt that the level of education has an influence on employment and unemployment rates. There is only so much you can do with just a high school diploma. With a college or graduate degree, many more opportunities arise and the pay is larger. There is not a large variety of careers today that don't require you to have some form of education above high school.
ReplyDeleteeducation is helpful in getting and maintaining employment but its not necessary there are just as many educated unemployed people as there are uneducated unemployed people
ReplyDeleteI believe that having educational knowledge that extends past your high school years does benifit you in more ways than one. Although I believe the unemployment rate is caused by people limiting themselves to one career field and having just that one option for work. This goes for both groups of people, those with degree and those without. We are taught from a young age that we need to get a degree in "A" select field to do good in life, instead of always have a "Fallback" to rely on. What I mean by fallback is a secondary job that you can rely on. I myself am working on a teaching degree to be my primary career, but work currently as a aircraft mechanic which will be my "Fallback", both of which should be around for years to come. This is what I believe we need to change to help with the unemployment problems.
ReplyDeleteI can see the relationship easily between having an education and a job versus little or no education and unemployment. However, I don't believe this is always fair. I have seen many times lately where someone with less education but more work experience could have done a job better than the person with a Master's. Having a degree in some cases, merely means that you paid the money to sit in a class. I'm not saying this is always the case. But going to school doesn't necessarily make you smarter or more qualified for a position. For instance, yes we would like all of the people on Wall Street or sitting in Congress to have an education. But is it necessary for a teller at your local bank to have a college degree? Money handling experience- yes, but not a degree. Or is it necessary for a waiter at your local diner to have a degree? Probably not. I think that often times now employers want only to hire those with degrees. In many cases, it doesn't even matter if the degree is in an area that pertains to the job you are applying for. To me, experience in a field should still rank above a degree.
ReplyDeleteThere may be a lower unemployment rate if employers would lower their standards a bit. Look really close at people that apply for open positions, not just at how much money they've spent on an education.
Ken Haltom said...
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable why higher education employees have a lower unemployment rate and those employees with less education face a higher unemployment rate. Those who have advanced degrees typically are in more specialized fields (i.e. engineering) where there are fewer candidates for those jobs than in areas where a degree is not necessary and there are more candidates and more competition for those jobs (i.e. fast food or retail).
Ken Haltom said...
ReplyDeleteAnother reason for this could be that during a recession employers are going to let more of the lower level/lower educated jobs go first and make the remaining employees take up more of the responsibilities. Then as a recovery begins, employers are going to hold off hiring new workers until there is certainty about the recovery and productivity with the remaining employees has been maxxed out and then employers will begin hiring for general labor positions. The more highly educated/more specialized jobs should be less recession prone as they would be harder and more expensive to replace when a recovery occurs.
I believe that there is a major link between education and unemployment. The further a person goes with their education will increase their human capital. The more education a person has they will have a greater job security they will have. I believe the statistics stated in this blog are correct in regards to unemployment comparing high school drop outs and individuals with a college education. However, having a higher education does not mean that your job is secure.
ReplyDeleteAll I have ever heard is, "Go to college!". This article just further proves the value of good education. While some college graduates are unemployed, it's remarkable how many fewer graduates are unemployed as opposed to non-graduates.
ReplyDelete