Real average hourly wages of young workers, 1989–2015*
| High school graduates | College graduates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year* | All | Men | Women | All | Men | Women |
| 1990 | $10.00 | $10.75 | $9.15 | $16.99 | $17.78 | $16.45 |
| 1995 | 9.80 | 10.55 | 8.96 | 15.90 | 16.84 | 15.15 |
| 2000 | 11.01 | 11.78 | 10.05 | 18.41 | 19.44 | 17.74 |
| 2007 | 10.93 | 11.69 | 9.95 | 18.31 | 19.61 | 17.33 |
| 2015 | 10.40 | 11.06 | 9.42 | 17.94 | 19.64 | 16.56 |
| Percent change | ||||||
| 1990–2000 | 10.1% | 9.7% | 9.8% | 8.4% | 9.3% | 7.9% |
| 1990–1995 | -2.0 | -1.8 | -2.1 | -6.4 | -5.3 | -7.9 |
| 1995–2000 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 12.1 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 17.1 |
| 2000–2015 | -5.5 | -6.1 | -6.3 | -2.5 | 1.0 | -6.7 |
| 2000–2007 | -0.7 | -0.8 | -1.0 | -0.5 | 0.9 | -2.4 |
| 2007–2015 | -4.8 | -5.4 | -5.4 | -2.0 | 0.2 | -4.4 |
* Data represent 12-month averages as of March of the indicated year.
Note: Data are for college graduates age 21–24 and high school graduates age 17–20 who are not enrolled in further schooling. Wages are in 2014 dollars.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata