ERIC Number: ED603920
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jan-30
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
College Attainment, Income Inequality, and Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise. Policy Brief
Hershbein, Brad J.; Kearney, Melissa S.; Pardue, Luke W.
W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
This policy brief discusses an empirical simulation exercise that gauges the plausible impact of increased rates of college attainment on a variety of measures of income inequality and economic insecurity. The results reveal that increasing college attainment would shrink gaps between the 90th percentile and lower half of the earnings distribution, as well as between the median and bottom, in most cases. Increased college degree attainment would meaningfully raise economic security for individuals near the bottom of the earnings distribution and reduce poverty rates. However, increases in college attainment would not reduce gaps at the very top of the distribution--for instance, the 99/90 percentile ratio. The policy prescription of increased educational attainment should thus appeal to those whose primary concern is the economic security of lower-income individuals, but it will not satisfy the goals of reduced income shares at the top of the distribution. [For the related Working Paper, see ED603918.]
Descriptors: Simulation, Income, Economic Status, Educational Attainment, Associate Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, Low Income Groups, Poverty, Wages, Outcomes of Education, Adults, High School Graduates, College Graduates, Young Adults, Gender Differences
W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. 300 South Westnedge Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49007-4686. Tel: 888-227-8569; Tel: 269-343-4330; Fax: 269-343-7310; Web site: http://research.upjohn.org/upjohn_publications/
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Current Population Survey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A