Inhospitable Job Market to Greet College Graduates

Larry Mishel and Elise Gould write:

Economic Snapshots: This month’s crop of new college graduates will confront a more inhospitable job market than their predecessors faced in 2001, the beginning of the last recession.... [T]he labor market for recent college graduates (ages 23-29) was weaker in 2007 than before the last recession in 2001. Inflation-adjusted average hourly wages for young college graduates... are still lower by about $0.60 for women and $1.60 for men than they were six years ago... a college degree has become less of a guarantee of receiving health and retirement benefits on the job... college graduates in entry-level jobs... less likely to receive employer-provided health insurance... over 5 percentage points lower than in 2001, and less than half of young college grads now receive any form of pension coverage on the job (see Figure B).

The fact that new college grads are doing poorly is a troubling sign, since those with higher education and more skills required in the new economy... are expected to be faring well...

Comments

[anne]

http://www.epi.org/printer.cfm?id=2979&content_type=1&nice_name=webfeatures_snapshots_20080514

Inflation-adjusted average hourly wages for young college graduates were $21.09 for men and $18.17 for women in 2007....

Huh???

[jerry]

Jeez, I just compared this to what I graduated with in 82, and found:

a) I earned more than this in nominal wage, and way more than this in inflation adjusted wage. Yay me! Sucks to be graduating this year and get off my lawn!

b) I earned less than I do now in nominal dollars in 1982. Yay me! Go career! Go college! Go engineering!

c) I earned MORE than I do now in real dollars! I am teh suxor! Been farked by teh man! Where's my career, I only have a job! Why did I go to college!?

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful apartment?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? ...am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
My god!...what have I done?

[allan_in_upstate]

America is the new Egypt.

[meno]

I know I'm foreign.

I know you Americans are probably used to it.

I know it's not supposed to be the point of Brad's post.

But isn't that disparity between salaries for male and female graduates just appalling!

meno

[meno]

I know I'm foreign.

I know you Americans are probably used to it.

I know it's not supposed to be the point of Brad's post.

But isn't that disparity between salaries for male and female graduates just appalling!

meno

[Matt]

I got a job as a web bot a while back, but it is hard work and I am looking for a human to take my place.

[jerry]

But isn't that disparity between salaries for male and female graduates just appalling!

No. While the disparity is suggestive of a wage disparity as a function of sex, it hides a lot of important details, namely industry, as well as the numbers of graduates applying towards that industry. For the lines to be equal with no further details provided, you would have to assume a uniform split and across departmental majors.

In fact, I gather that many female graduates in cities are now earning more than their male counterparts.

Gotta run.

[Mark]

It may be useful to consider the *value* of the health care that is being funded by employers, not just the share of the cost. Then add the value of health care to the value of the wage for a picture of change in the value of wages + benefits over time.

I'm not sure the graphics offered are very compelling evidence that graduates are losing ground on total compensation.

[Mark]

It may be useful to consider the *value* of the health care that is being funded by employers, not just the share of the cost. Then add the value of health care to the value of the wage for a picture of change in the value of wages + benefits over time.

I'm not sure the graphics offered are very compelling evidence that graduates are losing ground on total compensation.

[baileyman]

For some majors, such as engineering, I'd bet the same chart applies back to at least 1980.

[a]

i graduated from undergrad in 1997 and landed a relatively well-paying job at around $35,000 per year (with health benefits). I probably worked around 2500+ hours for $35,000 ... which comes out to around $14 per hour. Given I was making $7-$8 per hour prior to undergrad commencement (and sometimes less or even no pay), undergrad was a significant value add (at least in the short run) to me.

since then, i've found that job transitions and organizational blow-ups have been expensive for me and my family. you might as well mention to students that life after college can get a lot harder - more scarcity, more limits, organizations that are much less stable than a college or university, etc.

for me, the value add from a masters degree was not nearly as significant as an undergrad, and may have been negative in the short-run. this is anecdotal and i may be an outlier.