While much has been made of the Great Recession hitting Americans at all economic and educational levels, Gallup again has produced a poll that shows college graduates, especially those at least 30 years old, are much better off than the rest of the population.
While 73 percent of college graduates are working full time for a company or some other type of employer, that same status dips to 61 percent for those with some college and 58 percent for workers with a high school diploma or less. In other demographic categories, blacks are at 61 percent full-time employment for an employer, women are at 60 percent, and those in the age 18-29 crowd way down at 57 percent.
Among the college grads, an additional 7 percent are self-employed and work full time; 10 percent work part-time and do not want full-time employment. Many in those second two categories are 65 and older.
Men are more likely than women to be working full time for an employer, while women are more likely than men to be working part time with no desire for full-time work. Relatively few workers aged 65 and older are working full time, but 41 percent are satisfied with a part-time job.
Given their relative lack of experience, perhaps it’s not surprising that only 3 percent of the 18-29 crowd is self-employed. But if you want to understand some of the anger and frustration that’s playing out among the Wall Street protestors, consider their overall status in this poll.
Just 57 percent in that young group work full-time for an employer; a mere 3 percent are self-employed; and they are at the top of the list of the underemployed – those who are forced to work part time or less than 40 hours weekly – at 30 percent.
