Girls Go to College to Get More Knowledge, Boys Go to Jupiter to Get More Stupider

[freeloader]

I think you all are being too optimistic that people, young men especially, are electing to enter trades rather than going to college.

There has been a small uptick in young people entering trade-oriented training programs in recent years, but the numbers are much smaller than the decline in people attending college. Worth noting that there are more than 2 Baby Boomer tradesmen retiring for each young person entering trade-oriented training programs.

It seems more likely that young men either aren’t working or are working in unskilled jobs. It’s hard to argue with the logic when you can make $15 or more per hour in a lot of retail setting, food service, warehouses, etc, and these amounts are often in line with or even better than entry-level white collar jobs.

The problem for millions of young people, and especially young men, is that they seem to be doing things with very limited upside. Entry level office jobs or trade jobs have far greater potential to lead to moderate- to high-paying jobs in the future than what too many young men are selecting.

Also worth noting that the uptick in participation in trade-oriented training programs isn’t being driven by 16-20 year olds, but by 21-35 year olds, including increasing numbers of people who have attended non-trade oriented college and university programs and either quit or graduated and shifted to a trade.