skipping college is not without its difficulties either

Parents Forum
1

<p>since this is the season for newspaper articles about college grads having difficulties finding good jobs, I thought some might find this interesting</p>

<p>[In</a> Rust Belt, manufacturers add jobs, but factory pay isn’t what it used to be - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-rust-belt-manufacturers-add-jobs-but-factory-pay-isnt-what-it-used-to-be/2011/05/17/AFDmL55G_story.html?hpid=z2]In”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-rust-belt-manufacturers-add-jobs-but-factory-pay-isnt-what-it-used-to-be/2011/05/17/AFDmL55G_story.html?hpid=z2)</p>

<p>"But the new hiring also reflects another emerging reality of U.S. manufacturing: Many of the jobs don’t pay anything close to what they used to. Assembly-line workers who will be making the EdenPure products under the auspices of Suarez Corp. Industries will start at $7.50 an hour.</p>

<p>That’s a far cry from the $20 an hour that most workers made with Hoover, which shifted its century-old production lines to Mexico and El Paso in 2007 after concluding that it was too expensive to make its products in the industrial Midwest."</p>

<p>"Economists say the recovery in manufacturing work is also crucial to the fortunes of the vast majority of American workers who are not college graduates. As a group, factory jobs pay about 10 percent more on average than other jobs in the economy.</p>

<p>But even as manufacturers have been prospering and jobs have begun to trickle back, some analysts and union leaders worry that workers are not sharing fully in the bounty."</p>

2

<p>I grew up in the midwest “rust belt”. It was not uncommon for kids from my HS to graduate and take decent paying jobs in the local factories. However, starting in the late 70’s the factory jobs started disappearing and the jobs remaining were much lower paying. I know several of my HS classmates who skipped college themselves are sending/have sent their own kids on to college.</p>

3

<p>Dude, go to college…</p>

4

<p>You’ve heard of a rising tide lifts all boats? Well, America is in a receding tide and all the boats are lowering. With the exception of the tycoons and CEO’s, salaries, wages and benefits are adjusting downward to put the standard of living for Americans more on par with the rest of the world. Get used to less.</p>