Log In


Reset Password
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Archive

Poll: Youth Without Degrees End Up At End Of The Job Line

Print

Tweet

Text Size


Poll: Youth Without Degrees End Up At End Of The Job Line

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s economic upheaval has been especially hard on young people trying to start their working lives with a high school education or less. Only about a third are working full-time, compared with two-thirds of recent college grads, according to an Associated Press-Viacom poll.

Most say money was a major reason they bypassed college, and the vast majority aspire to more education someday.

Four in ten of those surveyed whose education stopped at high school are unemployed. Less than a quarter have part-time jobs, the poll of 18- to 24-year-olds found.

The Labor Department’s figures document how much harder it has become for these young adults to find a job since the recession that began late in 2007. The unemployment rate has been over 20 percent each March for the past three years for high school graduates ages 16-24 who have no college education. That’s up from ten percent in March 2007 and 14.5 percent a year later.

For college grads that age, March unemployment peaked at 8.5 percent this year. The government’s figures count only those considered actively looking for jobs.

Young adults who skipped higher education are willing to work and have some experience; the vast majority in the survey have held paying jobs at some point. About two-thirds hold high school diplomas. But almost six in ten say the high school they attended did only a fair to poor job in helping them prepare for work.

About three-fourths worry at least a little about having enough money to get by from week to week. Almost four in ten still lean on their parents or relatives for financial support. Still, most feel that their families’ financial situations have held them back, especially those whose families earn less than $50,000 per year,.

Three-fourths of those who bypassed college cite cost as a reason. Money was “very” or “extremely” important to their decision say 56 percent.

They still believe in the power of higher education. Nearly three-fourths say they hope to return to the classroom someday, either for trade school or college.

Cost is not the only reason; many stopped school rather than starting college. Almost half say getting real-world experience before going through more school was a key factor in their decision. And almost as many said they were influenced by their ability to find a job right after high school.

Young people whose education stopped at high school do not report as much certainty about the future as those in college, but they’re still strikingly optimistic; eight in ten are at least somewhat confident they will find a career that will make them happy.

Most with jobs do not feel they have found their calling. Six in ten say their job is just something to get them by, not a career or stepping stone.

Comments
Comments are open. Be civil.
0 comments

Leave a Reply