#177. Try Ignorance

Try Ignorance

The $600 stimulus checks are starting to go out all over the country. These funds are likely to be used for new consumer purchases, savings and the pay down of debt. It will be a short term fix for an economic downturn that is a normal part of any economic cycle. Could we have possibly used these funds better by investing in our future – the education of our young people?

In looking at recent unemployment numbers, the phrase “If you think education is expensive, just look at what ignorance gets you” really hit me.

While the current 5% unemployment rate is very low by historical standards and was once considered a level that would be impossible to penetrate on the downside, a study of the sub-sects of this rate shows some tremendous differences.

The unemployment rate for those with a college degree or higher is 2.1%; some college or associate’s degree is 3.9%; high school grads with no college is 5.0%; and those with less than a high school diploma is 7.8%. When you add in the additional $1 million of lifetime earnings of college grads compared to only a high school diploma, the difference becomes even more stark.

Can you afford to let your young people continue to drop out of your local high school, especially when this economic and employment disparity is likely to grow in the future? Wouldn’t our best economic stimulus package be a diploma?