Declining Trend in US Youth College Enrollment Over 10 Years
Due to Increased Demand and Wages for Blue-Collar Jobs
As the U.S. labor market heats up, more young people are choosing to enter 'blue-collar' jobs instead of pursuing college education.
On the 29th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited U.S. Department of Labor statistics, reporting that the college enrollment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds who recently graduated from high school in the U.S. was 62% last year. This is a sharp decline compared to 66.2% in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The college enrollment rate among American youth peaked at 70.1% in 2009 and then plateaued, decreasing by about 15% over the past decade. This trend of not attending college is due to fewer reasons to pay expensive tuition fees. U.S. college tuition has been steadily increasing by about 7% annually, more than doubling over the past 20 years.
On the other hand, the number of young people entering the 'blue-collar' (production and service) job market instead of college is increasing. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. labor market has overheated, creating many jobs that require no college degree but need young workers.
Leisure and hospitality industries such as restaurants and theme parks have seen job growth more than double overall, and manufacturing and logistics sectors are also reported to be short-staffed. The unemployment rate for workers aged 16 to 19 was 9.2% last month, the lowest in 70 years, indicating strong demand for youth employment.
U.S. Restaurant Workers' Wages Near Twice the Minimum Wage
Wages for blue-collar jobs are also rising rapidly. Hourly wages for general workers in leisure and hospitality increased by nearly 30% between April 2019 and April this year. This far exceeds the overall wage growth rate of 20% for all workers during the same period.
Last year, the median hourly wage for restaurant workers was $14, nearly double the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25. In particular, production workers receiving apprenticeship-style training earned $23.32 per hour for machinists and $24.71 per hour for carpenters.
WSJ forecasted, "Considering the aging U.S. workforce and the slowdown in immigrant inflow due to the pandemic, demand for blue-collar workers will remain high."
Julia Pollak, senior economist at the job search platform 'Job Recruiter,' emphasized to WSJ, "If you can get a job without a college bachelor's degree and the wage growth is decent, why go to college to get a degree?"
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