RE:
> >> Unemployment and earnings for year-round, full-time workers age 25
> >> and over, by educational attainment
> >>
> >> unemployment median
> >> rate, earnings,
> >> 1998 1997
Median or mean there is an unspoken but unjustified insinuation of a
causal direction in the numbers, that is, more education -> more
earnings. The association between education and earnings is better
explained by reference to social class origins -- children from higher
income households are privileged in there access both to higher education
and higher income. The implied direction of causation education ->
earnings provides both a (false) meritocratic justification for income
inequality and a (false) promise of mobility.
Controlled for social class origin, I would be surprised if the MEDIAN
earnings premium for higher education amounted to much more than enough to
offset the cost of tuition and the opportunity cost of time spent outside
the paid labour force. In many cases, higher education may represent a
deadweight loss (financially).
Temps Walker
Sandwichman and Deconsultant
