College-educated workers are taking jobs that don't require degrees

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-college-grads-20130920,0,4465594.story

By Alana Semuels
September 20, 2013

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"I have a master's in economics and I'm bartending in New York," he said with a shrug. "It's a good way to make money."

A college degree once all but guaranteed a well-paying job and higher earnings than high school graduates. But fewer of these good jobs are now available because of both long-term economic changes and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.

People such as Flagherty with college and advanced degrees are working jobs that don't require them, whether by choice or necessity. That in turn pushes people without college degrees out of those jobs.

In 1970, only 2% of firefighters had college degrees; now 18% do, according to Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University. Fewer than 1% of taxi drivers had a college degree in 1970; now 15% do. About 25% of retail sales clerks have college degrees, Vedder said.

"The main reason is a pretty simple one," he said. "The number of college graduates has grown vastly faster than the number of jobs that require high-level education skills."

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Because college is so expensive, many students are facing a dilemma: If they go to college, they still might not get a job that requires a college degree, and they'll be on the hook for big student loan payments. But if they don't go to college, they might be pushed out of entry-level jobs by overqualified college graduates who can't find other work.

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