Question:
How does the United States compare in labor force outcomes of education?
Response:
In all of the G-8 countries reporting data, adults with a relatively low level of education (i.e., those whose highest educational attainment is at the lower secondary level or below) tended to have lower income levels. For example, 83 percent of U.S. adults ages 25 to 64 whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary level or below earned at or below the median income of U.S. adults in 2004. The U.S. percentage was higher than the corresponding percentages in all of the other G-8 countries except the United Kingdom (also at 83 percent). The four other G-8 countries had percentages that ranged from 62 percent in Italy to 69 percent in France. Many people with low levels of education also earned at or below half of the median income; 44 percent of U.S. adults whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary level or below earned at or below half of the median income of U.S. adults in 2004. The U.S. percentage was higher than the corresponding percentages in all of the other G-8 countries, with those for Italy and France being the lowest (19 and 17 percent, respectively). In contrast, the percentage of adults at or below the level of lower secondary education who had more than two times the median income of all 25- to 64-year-olds in their respective countries ranged from 1 percent in the United Kingdom and Germany to 9 percent in Italy, with the United States at 2 percent.
Across the G-8 countries, adults who had completed academic higher education tended to have higher income levels. For example, 69 percent of U.S. adults ages 25 to 64 who had completed academic higher education earned more than the median income of U.S. adults in 2004. In the other G-8 countries, the corresponding percentages ranged from 67 percent in Canada to 79 percent in France. Many people with high levels of education also earned more than two times the median income; 30 percent of U.S. adults ages 25 to 64 who had completed academic higher education earned more than two times the median income of U.S. adults in 2004. The corresponding percentages in the other G-8 countries ranged from 23 percent in Germany to 34 percent in Italy. In contrast, less than 10 percent of adults who had completed academic higher education earned at or below half of the median income in three G-8 countries (France, the United Kingdom, and Italy). The corresponding percentages in the other G-8 countries were 12 percent in the United States, 13 percent in Germany, and 18 percent in Canada.
Compared to adults whose highest level of education was lower secondary or below or academic higher education, adults ages 25 to 64 whose highest educational attainment was upper secondary education or postsecondary vocational training were more evenly divided with respect to earning at or below the median income and earning more than the median income. Across the G-8 countries, no more than 60 percent of adults earned at or below the median income of adults in their respective countries, and no less than 40 percent earned more than the median income of adults in their respective countries.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2006 (NCES 2007-006).
| Percentage of the population aged 25 to 64, earning more than the median income, by highest level of education, income, and country: Selected years, 2002-2004 | |||
| G-8 countries | Education level | ||
| Lower secondary and below | Upper secondary education or postsecondary vocational training | Academic higher education | |
| Canada (2003) | 32.2 | 45.5 | 66.9 |
| France | 31.0 | 44.9 | 79.4 |
| Germany | 36.2 | 43.2 | 68.3 |
| Italy (2002) | 38.2 | 54.9 | 73.3 |
| United Kingdom1 | 17.4 | 41.2 | 77.9 |
| United States | 16.6 | 40.1 | 69.2 |
1 The United Kingdom includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
NOTE: Lower secondary level or below includes ISCED levels 0 (preprimary education), 1 (primary education), and 2 (lower secondary education). Upper secondary education or postsecondary vocational training includes ISCED levels 3 (upper secondary education) and 4 (postsecondary nontertiary programs). Academic higher education includes ISCED levels 5A (academic higher education below the doctoral level) and 6 (doctoral level of academic higher education). NOTE: Education levels are defined according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2006 (NCES 2007-006).
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