[NLA] NLA Info: Wages For Men and Women

[David J. Rosen]

Subject: Wages For Men and Women
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 10:46:28 -0700
From: Thomas Sticht <tsticht at aznet.net>


David: The following research note may be of interest to NLA list
members. Thanks, Tom Sticht

Research Note 9/28/01

Wages For Men and Women: New Evidence For a Growing Literacy Surplus

In a new report, Carnevale and Desrochers (2001) present new analyses
that suggest that there is a growing surplus of literacy skills in the
workforce of the United States. In one analysis, they present data
showing that  from 1973 to 1998 the percentage of prime-age workers
(both male and female) with some college/AA degree more than doubled, 
from 12 percent to 27 percent.  But from 1979 to 1998 earnings (in
constant 1996 dollars) of prime-age male workers (30-59 years old)
declined for those who failed to finish high school, those with a high
school diploma, AND those with some college or an AA degree. For men
with a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree, earnings rose from 1979 to
1998. 

In this case, as the percentage of men with some college or an AA degree
increased, their wages decreased. But the same was not true for women.
Across all education categories, women’s wages grew from 1979 to 1998.
However, they started from low baselines and ended up at low levels of
wages. On average, women with bachelor’s degrees in 1998 earned only
about as much as men with high school diplomas. This suggests that women
may be in lower paying jobs though they may possess education and
literacy skills that far exceed the demands for education and skills in
the jobs that they hold. That is, they may possess a literacy surplus. 

In analyses of data from the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1992, the
authors show data indicating that in 1998 dollars and for workers aged
16-64, women with high school diplomas and the highest literacy skills,
NALS levels 4/5, earned less than men with high school diplomas but the
lowest literacy skills, NALS level 1. Women with a bachelor’s degree and
NALS level 3 literacy earned about the same as men with NALS level 3
literacy skills with just a high school diploma. 

Carnevale and Desrochers (2001) also present data showing that though
the more education one has the better the average income, 83 percent of
workers with associate degrees have earnings that fall within the same
distributions as workers with bachelor’s degrees. This suggests that
many workers with bachelor’s degrees possess literacy skills for which
they are not being compensated in wages. That is, they may possess a
surplus of literacy. 

Why do women with high school diplomas and with the highest literacy
skills on the NALS earn less on average than men with high school
diplomas but the lowest scores on the NALS?  Is it because women are
working in jobs that just pay less regardless of one’s education and
skill levels? If so, why are women working in these low paying jobs? Why
aren’t men working in these jobs to the same extent as women? 

These data lead to questions as to the likely outcomes of educating more
and more people to higher and higher levels of education and literacy.
Is it possible that as more and more people acquire higher education
credentials and higher literacy skills wages will fall because employers
have a larger pool of better qualified workers from which to recruit? 
Is that what happened from 1979 to 1998 as the percentages of men with
some college or AA degrees increased, and wages for these men decreased
(in constant 1996 dollars)? 

It seems clear from data in this report and from earlier work that
something other than literacy skills and education credentials is at
work in determining wages in the workplaces of America. This would seem
to demand a closer scrutiny as adult education and literacy development
policies are wed more and more closely to workforce investment policies. 

References

Carnevale, A. & Desrochers, D. (2001). Help wanted
credentials required:
community colleges in the knowledge economy. Princeton, NJ: Educational
Testing Service. 

See papers at www.nald.ca under full text documents searched by Sticht 
or Krahn for earlier work on the concept of the literacy surplus.