Dave Mahorney
WRIT 122
Manning
5 October 2006
Middle Classless
The disappearing middle class has been a subject of intense debate over the last decade. Many speculations have been made about the cause. Arguments range from outsourcing to unfair tax breaks. The arguments being presented, however, do not address the major issue facing the middle class. Perpetual education is the cornerstone of success and too few people have grasped that concept. The waning of the middle class is the effect of an incomplete or lack of college education.
The lack of education in manufacturing workers has led to an increase in layoffs and outsourcing. By itself, US manufacturing would be the eighth-largest economy in the world. Manufacturing employs more than 14 million people in the US. Those jobs are a valuable asset to this country’s economy. A manufacturing position was a middle class job, but the job and education requirements have changed. In the 1950s up to the mid-1970s a manufacturing job was the highest paying job a high school graduate could get. The jobs in manufacturing at that time required less skill and little education. Since these jobs did not require much education, there were few who went on from high school to attain a college degree. Recently manufacturers have outsourced a majority of these jobs. There is no documentation of a specific number of jobs lost, but one can see the outcome by looking at the big picture. The largest increase in the outsourcing share among private industries was in durable goods manufacturing. That share rose from 31 percent in 1997 to 37 percent in 2004 (Yuskavage et.all pg.26). In 2004 the amount of durable goods sold was almost $251.9 billion (US Census Bureau). Thirty-seven percent of that is $93.2 billion in durable goods that were produced in another country. That equates to a large percentage of jobs lost just in the manufacturing sector. The jobs lost are mainly very mechanical or repetitive motion jobs. In essence, the jobs that are lost are unskilled positions. This means there are unskilled-unemployed workers without an education to fall back on. Nearly 36 percent of the 3,000 companies recently polled by the National Association of Manufacturers have good jobs going unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants (Jasinowski). There is work at a middle class level of pay, but it requires more education. Unemployed-workers who do not improve their education will search for jobs with comparable wages. Since there are few jobs left, they will settle for something a step down on the economic scale. This slow sifting of the unskilled worker from middle class paying jobs has resulted in a dynamic downsizing of the middle class to the lower middle class or even the lower class.
The United States middle class will not be able to compete for jobs with other countries due to the inadequate level of education. The demand workers with Science and Engineering degrees will increase by 47 percent during this decade (NSF). Last May, 65,000 students in America graduated with a college degree in engineering. In comparison, China graduated a class of 325,000 eager engineers. The US has roughly 6 percent of its student body pursuing a degree in engineering. Meanwhile, China has 37 percent of its undergrads preparing for the same degree (Jasinowski). When there is a large distribution of graduate students in a certain field, it tends to drive down the income level of that profession. In addition, the average income for an engineer is about $8,000 in China (PR Newswire Association) and in the US it is $51,888 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Thus income disparities, along with the availability of graduates in China, create more pressure to offshore or outsource these jobs. America’s struggle to compete educationally on a global level becomes more apparent upon further review of higher learning statistics. From 1995 until 2003 the increase in enrollment of college students was 21 percent, well below the average of 38 percent. The other countries, such as Australia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic and Sweden, ranged from 33 percent to169 percent during the same period (Ischinger). In relation, is the amount of college drop outs the US has when compared to other countries. The average completion rate was 70 percent in countries abroad. The US reported one of the lowest completion percentages at 50 percent (Ischinger). Consequently, Americans cannot compete for jobs when they cannot compare educationally. This consistent level of complacency toward education standards is what will extinguish the American middle class.
Lou Dobbs contends that offshoring and outsourcing are the major factors attributed to the decreasing of the middle class. His contention is upheld by evidence of an ever increasing trade deficit and the amount of jobs lost due to outsourcing. Lou’s claim is that the impact of a trade deficit, which added to the then $4 trillion in external debt, has caused the loss of jobs and diminished the manufacturing base. His claim is that there are 400,000-500,000 jobs a year being exported to cheap overseas labor markets(Dobbs). In contrast to Mr. Dobbs, research shows that the manufacturing base is increasing. In 2006 the total new orders for durable goods was up from $1.54 trillion in 2005 to $1.67 trillion. That is an increase of 8.5 percent (US Department of Commerce). This should equate to more manufacturing jobs. In fact there are more jobs in manufacturing. However, the unskilled labor is still outsourced. The jobs available require more skill sets. The need to educate workers is evident. A poll by the NAM shows more than 80 percent of the companies that responded indicate that they are experiencing a shortage of qualified workers (Eisen et. all). Mr. Dobb’s claim that outsourcing and a trade deficit are contributing to the erosion of the middle class is valid. However, the more impending doom is attributed to the unskilled workers. Their lack of education has them fighting a losing battle as more of them slip from their spot in the middle class.
In final there is much that affects the economic status of people in the middle class. The one way to help ensure these people and their future generations a place of economic middle ground is continuous education. The world becomes more globalized with each fiscal year. Workers in the US can no longer rely on manual labor as a fundamental means of median wages. The American worker must be able to compete with the world in education or the middle class will continue to fade.
Work Cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Engineers, 20 September 2006 http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm (7)
Dobbs , Lou . Personal Interview. 7 Feb. 2005. 25 Sep. 2006 . (9)
Eisen, Phyllis, Jerry Jasinowski, and Richard Kleinert. “2005 Skills Gap Report – A Survey of the American Manufacturing Workforce.” National Association of Manufacturers. 2005. NAM. 25 Sep. 2006 . (2)
Ischinger, Barbara. “Education at a Glance 2006.” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development . 12 Sep. 2006. OECD/ OCDE. 25 Sep. 2006 . (8)
Jasinowski, Jerry . “In Search Of Skilled Manufacturing Employees.” National Association of Manufacturers. 17 May 2005. NAM. 25 Sep. 2006 . (1)
National Science Foundation , Division of Science Resources Statistics
Science and Engineering Indicators-2002
Arlington, VA (NSB 02-01) [April 2002] 13 November 2006 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c3/c3s4.htm
PR Newswire Association . “China Salary & Career Development Survey .” Global Sources. 8 Oct. 2004. PR Newswire Association LLC. 16 Sep. 2006 . (6)
US Census Bureau. “Benchmark Report for Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: January 1992 through December 2005.” U.S. Census Bureau. May 2006. U.S. Census Bureau. 25 Sep. 2006 . (5)
US Department of Commerce. “Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders August 2006.” US Census Bureau News 27 Sep. 2006: m3-1. 27 Sep. 2006 <4 http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/m3/adv/pdf/durgd.pdf >. (4)
Yuskavage, Robert E., Erich H. Strassner, and Gabriel W. Medeiros. “Outsourcing and Imported Services in BEA’s Industry Accounts.” Bureau of Economic Analysis . Apr. 2006. U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis. 16 Sep. 2006 . (3)
