More college grads taking low wage jobs leaving less educated without work
The unemployment rate for Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 who have only a high school diploma grew by 4.3 percent in 2013, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Unemployment for those in that age group for those who have a college degree rose 1.5 percent and as a result, more college educated people are taking low wage jobs.
“The underemployment of college graduates affects lesser educated parts of the labor force,” said economist Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a not-for-profit research organization in Washington. “Those with high-school diplomas that normally would have no problem getting jobs as bartenders or taxi drivers are sometimes kept from getting the jobs by people with college diplomas,” said Vedder, who is also a Bloomberg View contributor.
Recent college graduates are having an extremely difficult time finding employment in higher paying positions, so they are ending up in more low-wage and part-time works situations.
In 2001, there were 34 percent of Americans with Bachelor’s degree in jobs that require no degree. Today that number stands at 44 of Americans age 22 to 27.
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