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In US, We're Not Just Aging,
We're Also More Educated
Hope
Yen, Associated Press
February 24, 2012
Americans
60 or older are more likely than ever to
have college degrees, helping redefine
work and retirement as educated baby
boomers swell the senior population at
rates faster than young adults earn
diplomas.
Census figures released
Thursday highlight changes in U.S.
college completion, which reached a high
of 30.4 percent last year. It comes amid
increasing shares of older Americans in
the workplace and record drops in
employment for young adults, an age
twist that is historically
unprecedented.
"This is an important milestone
in our history," Census Bureau Director
Robert Groves said, referring to the
increase in people with college degrees
across all age groups. "The more
education people have, the more likely
they are to have a job and earn more
money, particularly for individuals who
hold a bachelor's degree."
The college gains are making it
easier for older Americans to work later
in life because they are more likely
than their parents' generation to hold
higher-skilled jobs, which are seen as
harder to replace. Because of increased
life expectancy, rising health care
costs and other financial incentives to
keep working, the government projects
that 1 in 4 workers by 2020 will be at
least 55 years old -- up from 1 in 5
today.
One
worker's story
"I don't know what I'd do if I
didn't work. It's just so enlightening,
and I love all the people I work with,"
said Lillian Gourley, 83, of Southbury,
Conn. Spending much of her career in
advertising, she decided eight years ago
to return to the workforce after
retirement to help pay off bills in
between her daily activities of
gardening, socializing and visits to her
daughters and grandchildren.
Based on her work experience,
she was quickly offered a job at a local
newspaper as a receptionist, a position
she held throughout the economic
downturn. Gourley says she enjoys
interacting with younger co-workers --
the "kids" -- and believes the workplace
as a whole is enriched by having a wide
group of employees who bring energy,
know-how and wisdom to their jobs.
"As long as I can, I want to
work, and when I stop enjoying it, then
I'll stop," said Gourley, who earned an
art degree in 1949. "I just can't
imagine sitting around at home, doing
nothing and complaining."
It's
not unusual
Demographers say the improved
job fortunes for educated, older
Americans are commonplace.
"Older workers gained the most
and lost the least over the recession,
and education was an important factor,"
said Andrew Sum, director of the Center
for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern
University in Boston, citing their
combination of experience and training.
He noted that the biggest job
losses were among less-educated younger
men, who struggled with reduced demand
for blue-collar jobs in construction,
manufacturing and transportation.
"Employers for the most part over the
last decade did not hire young workers,
and when times got bad, they did not lay
off as many older workers."
Currently, about 26 percent of
Americans 60 and older have a bachelor's
degree, up from 13 percent in 1992 and
now an all-time high. Educational gains
among older Americans are being fueled
by waves of aging college graduates who
attended school in higher numbers in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s following
government expansions of a military GI
bill that helped pay tuition costs.
Increased enrollment in adult
continuing-education programs also have
bolstered the gains.
'Major
player'
Increased education levels
among older Americans is a shift from
their parents' generations, who didn't
need a college degree to find a
well-paying job in manufacturing or
construction. Much of that blue-collar
work, however, has since moved overseas,
driving down wages for the fewer jobs
that remained in the U.S.
In the last five years, the
number of college graduates between the
ages of 60 and 69 climbed nearly 55
percent, more than double the rate of
increase for younger age groups,
including the 25-29 age group, whose
number of college graduates rose 20
percent to 6.9 million. Roughly 78
million baby boomers, who were born
between 1946 and 1964 and began turning
65 last year, are now aging into the
senior ranks.
The increase in college
graduates is prominent among women 60
and older, whose shares with bachelor's
degrees jumped from 10 percent in 1992
to more than 21 percent. The numbers
were lifted by many students who opted
to pursue college degrees following the
1960s women's movement.
Across all age and race groups,
Americans holding at least a bachelor's
degree increased last year to 30.4
percent; that's up from less than 25
percent in 1998 and just 5 percent in
1940. While younger women 25-29 are more
likely than young men to complete
college, 36 percent to 28 percent,
across all age groups women still lag
men slightly, 30 percent to 31 percent.
William H. Frey, a demographer
at Brookings Institution who reviewed
the data, said the latest trends show
the senior population will be "a major
player in the labor force of the
future."
"The fact that a substantial
segment of today's older workers are
more educated and experienced accounts
for their taking fewer employment hits,"
he said.
OTHER
FINDINGS IN CENSUS DATA
» Employment among young adults
16-29 was 55.3 percent as of 2010,
compared with 67.3 percent in 2000; it's
the lowest since the end of World War
II. In contrast, employment rates for
those 55 and older increased over the
last decade. Labor force participation
rates also jumped eight percentage
points over the last decade for
Americans ages 55-74, from 42.5 percent
to 50.6 percent, while rates for younger
age groups declined.
» By race and ethnicity, 50
percent of Asian-Americans ages 25 and
older had at least a bachelor's degree.
That's compared with 34 percent for
non-Hispanic whites, 20 percent for
blacks and 14 percent for Hispanics.
While most age and race groups saw
increases in college attainment from the
previous year, one notable exception was
Hispanic males 25-29: their share
slipped from 10.8 percent to 9.6
percent.
» Men who held a bachelor's degree
(but no advanced degree) had average
earnings of $70,000; for women, it was
$45,000.
» People with a bachelor's degree
had lower rates of unemployment than
those with less education in every month
from January 2008 to December 2010.
Unemployment rate for those who lacked a
high school diploma reached a peak of
17.9 percent in February 2010; in the
same month, unemployment for people with
a bachelor's degree reached a high of
5.9 percent.
» People whose highest level of
education completed was high school had
average earnings of $31,000 in 2010. For
those whose highest degree was a
bachelor's degree, the average was
$58,000.
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