A few months ago I posed the question: “Could your child end up wealthier and happier by not going to college?”
This question has sparked a national conversation that’s helping many students choose good-fitting, well-paying, minimal debt career paths they might not otherwise have even considered.
Now, a Time Magazine article is letting us know just how important this conversation is. “The current construction worker shortage,” Time Magazine says, “is dire.”
If you’re a Minnesotan, you might want to jump straight to my post Free Technical College Education for 1600 Minnesotans right now.
Time Magazine says that huge numbers of workers left construction when the housing market collapsed, and that even though the market has rebounded, workers have not returned. “70% of home builders . . . said they were experiencing a shortage of carpenters,” Time reported. “A survey by the Associated General Contractors in July showed that 86% of commercial builders said they were finding it difficult to fill hourly or salaried positions.”
The end result, Time says, is “a delay in construction projects and increased labor costs. Construction workers’ average hourly earnings (are increasing).”
Mike Rowe, formerly of TV’s Dirty Jobs, agrees. In this interview with Salary.com, Rowe lists 11 blue-color jobs that are hiring, and paying really well to boot.
My suggestion: Read the posts above. Share them with your high school student. Have an honest conversation about possibly looking at alternatives to college.
Would you like clear, step-by-step help getting your kids through college or technical school debt free?
Subscribe to my weekly email newsletter using the form on this site, and then open it every single time it lands in your email inbox. Then, watch for my upcoming book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward (due out in 2016). This book will provide clear, step-by-step instructions on how to get your kids through college debt free — starting in middle school.
What about you? Would you be OK with your son or daughter staying out of college if there were more money and more happiness to be found in a technical school education? Comment below, or LIKE “Jeannie Burlowski, Author” on Facebook and let’s talk about it there.
Do you have friends who are currently parenting kids age 15 – 22? (Especially high school seniors?) SHARE this post on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin right now.