Comment by Glyptodon
2 years ago
One thing I've been curious about but can never tell from the no/some/4yr+ income breakdown they always do is how trades like mechanics, electricians, welders, and plumbers actually do. Which box are they in? Do they make no degree multi-modal, or even more skewed to poverty than we think?
Don't know about the US, but in Australia at least, mechanics / electricians / welders / plumbers / etc ("tradies" as we call them) generally do quite well financially. Income often above the average for a university graduate. Often more job security. And often significant tax breaks due to being self-employed.
Also, income aside, I don't think that tradies belong in the broad "no college education" group, as almost all of them have a tertiary qualification (apprenticeship + TAFE diploma in Australia, maybe community college is the equivalent in the US?), even though it's not necessarily a bachelor's university degree.
In the US it's never clear which box they get included in, at least to me. But apprenticeship + cert would I think generally be no college.