Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The reported death of the middle economy is greatly exaggerated. There are 30 million good jobs in the United States today that pay without a BA (bachelor’s degree). These good jobs have median earnings of $55,000 annually. Traditionally, many people with good jobs that pay without a BA have worked in manufacturing. Those jobs are declining while the number of good jobs in skilled-services industries, such as health services and financial services, is increasing. These trends vary across states. Twenty-three states gained good blue-collar jobs from 1991 to 2015. For instance, Utah had a 105 percent increase in good blue-collar jobs, and Nevada had a 50 percent increase. However, many Northeast and Midwest states saw steep declines: Rhode Island lost 39 percent of its good blue-collar jobs for workers without BAs during this period. New York saw a 31 percent decline in these jobs, and Pennsylvania saw a 27 percent decline. Good jobs in skilled-services industries increased in most states, growing by almost 200 percent in Arizona and 124 percent in Texas. Education matters. More and more, good jobs are going to workers with bachelor’s degrees, who now hold 55 percent of all good jobs. For workers without BAs, associate’s degrees have become increasingly important for finding a good job. More associate’s degree holders are getting good jobs, while the number of these jobs held by workers with a high school diploma or less is in decline. This is especially true in Midwest states like Minnesota and Iowa.
Authors: Anthony P. Carneval, Neil Ridley, Jeff Strohl
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2782511558