February 3, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Black women report highest earnings
premium for additional education
In 1998, median weekly earnings of full-time
workers with a high school diploma were $479, compared with $753 for those with a
bachelor’s degree, and $956 for those with an advanced degree. Thus, a
bachelor’s degree provided an earnings premium of 57 percent and an advanced degree
increased earnings 100 percent over a high school diploma.
[Chart data—TXT]
While each gender and racial cross group reported earnings premiums for additional
education, black women enjoyed the largest increases in wages with more schooling. During 1998, black women with a high school education earned $356 per week, compared with
$605 (a 70 percent premium) for black women with a bachelor’s degree and $788 (a 121
percent premium) for black women with an advanced degree.
Despite the larger premiums to education among black women, however, their earnings
were still lower than the average for all workers at all three degree levels.
These earnings data, based on 1998 annual averages, are produced by the Current Population Survey. More information can be
found in news release USDL 99-15, "Usual
Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Fourth Quarter 1998."
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »