Findings: Adult

Education and Labor Outcomes

• There is a negative relationship between educational attainment and unemployment and between educational attainment and “involuntary part time” work; however, there is no measurable relationship between educational attainment and “involuntary temporary” work (see figure)
• Combining underemployment with involuntary part-time and involuntary temporary work into one measure of labor underutilization, there is a negative relationship between educational attainment and labor underutilization (see figure)

Nondegree Credentials

• Overall, 45 percent of labor force participants have a postsecondary degree; adding in nondegree credentials (postsecondary certificates, occupational certifications, and occupational licenses) raises the percentage with a credential to 58 (see figure)
• Among adults who have only a nondegree credential, the most common credential is a license, followed by postsecondary certificate, and then certification (see figure)

Licenses and Certifications

• Overall, 21 percent of adults have a license or certification, with licenses being more prevalent than certifications (see figure)
• Licenses and certifications are more prevalent among adults with college degrees than among those with less education (see figure)
• The most common field in which adults are licensed or certified is health care (see figure)
• Most adults prepared for their most important license or certification by taking classes from a college, technical school, or trade school (see figure)
• A majority of adults report that their most important license or certification is very useful for getting a job, keeping a job, remaining marketable to employers or clients, and improving their work skills (see figure)

Work Experience Programs

• Overall, 21 percent of adults have completed a work experience program, and 14 percent have completed a work experience program that was part of an educational program after high school (see figure)
• Among adults who completed a work experience program, health care was the most prevalent field, followed by teaching (see figure)
• Among adults who completed a work experience program, 64 percent found them to be very useful for getting a job, 66 percent thought they were very useful for improving work skills, but only 37 percent considered them to be very useful for increasing their pay (see figure)
• More than two-thirds of adults who completed a work experience program did so as part of a formal education program, usually as part of a postsecondary education program (see figure)
• Adults who completed a work experience program as part of postsecondary education, rather than outside of education, were less often paid during the work experience, but were more often in a work experience that prepared them for licensure or certification (see figure)