More Ph.D.s needing food stamps
Graduate degree holders took more public assistance between 2007 and 2010, but still were fewer than 1% of the total.
When students pursue a graduate degree to make a little extra money, just about none of them expect that added cash to come from food stamps.
Between 2007 and 2010, the number of people with master's degrees and doctorates who have had to apply for food stamps, unemployment or other assistance more than tripled, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Census data released in March 2011 indicates that while 22 million Americans held master's degrees or higher in 2010, about 360,000 were receiving public assistance.
By those numbers, graduates with doctorates fared only slightly better than those holding master's degrees. While more than 293,000 master's recipients needed public assistance in 2010, up from 102,000 in 2007, nearly 34,000 doctorate recipients used food stamps and other assistance programs. That's a sizable increase from the 9,800 doctorate holders who needed support back in 2007, but these numbers in a vacuum don't tell the complete story.
For example, Census numbers don't indicate what fields of study those degrees covered, which would make it a lot easier to identify low-demand job segments. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics sees increasing demand for registered nurses, for example, Ph.D.s looking to become judges aren't nearly as coveted.
Also, while the folks at OnlineColleges pointed out that 5,000 doctorate recipients worked as janitors in 2010 while 21% of graduates holding a bachelor's degree or better worked as customer service representatives that year, they failed to mention when students attained those degrees or if those jobs were their primary means of employment. In either equation, both masters and doctorate recipients are far better off in the job market than those with some college experience or none at all.
Students with associate degrees, for example, are faced with a slew of careers experiencing declines in job numbers. Want to be an aerospace technician, air traffic controller or forest and conservation technician? Good luck with that. High school grads, meanwhile, are looking at a work environment where dozens of jobs with entry-level or mid-level pay are evaporating.
As OnlineColleges points out, one in six Americans received food stamps in 2011. That's about 52.5 million people, which means even if every graduate degree holder on public assistance was on food stamps, they'd be less than 1% of the total.
The recession proved that degrees aren't necessarily a guarantee of future employment. That said, they don't seem to hurt a recipient's odds, either.
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The message is don't try to better yourself unless its in a very specific field. No room at the inn, baby.
All you get is a lifetime of debt.
It is amazing that there is a great deal of contempt for those who have taken the challenge of getting an advanced degree. And we wonder why our children are not doing as well as they could in school. Critical thinking skills are taught to most with advanced degrees. Many with advanced degrees also have practical degrees like culinary degrees as well.
Teacher must go to school to update their skills as things change. I personally respect the intellect of many, some of whom do not have college degrees.
I would venture to guess that a Masters in Education may be one of the degrees with limited opportunities.
School budgets across the country have been squeezed for the past five years and that was a popular degree for teachers to get looking to advance. The problem is that when everyone else has the same degree it becomes a necessity, not an advantage.
I hold a masters degree in Psychology with an emphasis in the health education since the recession many of the counseling positions that were once funded no longer exist. I lost my job as a disabilities counselor at a community college due to funding cuts. The criteria to counsel independently has become stricter while the jobs actually available have decreased.
I know many people with advanced degrees that have applied for jobs they are way overqualified and I know one person that did reach the point of having to apply for food stamps to feed her kids as she was the only provider. No one is immune.
I totally agree with marcJ!
Seems the responders to this post are still asleep under the trance of this government.
It makes no difference of the education of >ANYONE ANYMORE!
NO JOBS! NO JOBS! & when an educated individual attempts to survive, that same old song & dance is played of being over educated/qualified.
Do you get it now old geezer???
Be prepared for the upcoming >Civil War everyone! Because that's what's next!
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