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5.22.2002
In the '90s, education
lifted many people higher
BY SCOTT MacKAY and
BRUCE LANDIS
Journal Staff Writers
PROVIDENCE
-- The education levels of Rhode Islanders soared during the 1990s, as
the link between higher education and job earnings became stronger than
ever, according to U.S. Census figures released yesterday.
The
number of state residents with less than a high school diploma plummeted,
while those with college degrees were on the rise. Almost 80 percent of
Rhode Islanders now have a high school education, with 26 percent holding
a bachelor's degree or graduate or professional degree.
The largest increase since 1990 -- 31 percent -- was in those holding
graduate or professional degrees, a category that now includes nearly
70,000 Rhode Islanders
.
"I think this shows that the investments the governor and the legislature
have made in education are starting to pay off," said Peter McWalters,
state education commissioner. "It is also more evidence that the message
that you need more than a high school education is getting out."
But the census figures also show that Rhode Island came out of the decade
of the Internet, the go-go stock market and a booming economy more divided
than ever into distinct communities growing apart in terms of income,
education and child poverty.
The census data included these highlights:
-
There was a big increase in the number of children living in poverty,
particularly in the category of school-age children, in which almost 9,000
more children lived in impoverished conditions in 2000 than in 1990 --
a 46-percent jump.
-
One out of five Rhode Islanders speaks a language other than English at
home. Slightly more than 1 of every 10 state residents was born in a foreign
country.
- Fewer Rhode Islanders earn their living in manufacturing than at any
time in the past century. In the state that started America's Industrial
Revolution, only about 16 percent of the work force is now employed in
manufacturing -- down from 37 percent in 1975.
-
Women working at full-time jobs annually earned about $10,000 less than
their male counterparts.
- After inflation is taken into account, median household income barely
went up at all in the decade of 1990s, despite a state economy that produced
many more high-paying jobs.
- For the first time in the state's history, more Rhode Islanders say
their ancestry is Italian, rather than Irish.
It has become a cliché to say that a good education is needed for a good
job and a good life. But as far as earning power goes, it is accurate.
More than ever, Rhode Islanders are segregated by education and income.
One
stark example: Central Falls has both the highest concentration of adults
who have not finished high school and the highest level of poverty. Twenty-seven
percent of residents aged 25 or older have not completed high school,
and 24 percent have attained less than a ninth-grade education. Central
Falls, a mere five miles from Providence, also has the highest concentration
of families below the poverty level, at 26 percent.
"Educational attainment and poverty are highly, highly connected," said
Nancy Gewirtz, director of the Poverty Institute at Rhode Island College.
"If you have a college degree, you're less likely to be poor. And despite
the increase in educational achievement, we still have thousands of people
who cannot compete in a knowledge-based economy."
Only
6 percent of Central Falls's residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
The city also has the largest proportion -- 41 percent -- of children
living in poverty; its median household income is $22,628.
THE NUMBERS released yesterday are part of the latest round of data that
provide a detailed mosaic of life in Rhode Island. The data come from
the U.S. Census 2000's long form, which was sent to one in six households
nationwide.
The long form asks 53 questions, on everything from education and ancestry
to household plumbing and the time spent commuting to work. The communities
with the highest proportion of college degrees, graduate degrees and medical
and law diplomas are also the communities with the highest incomes.
Fifty-seven percent of adults, defined as those age 25 and older, in East
Greenwich have received at least a bachelor's degree, and 25 percent have
attained a graduate or professional degree. The town's median household
income: $70,062.
In Barrington, 53 percent of adults have at least a bachelor's degree,
and 24 percent have a graduate or professional degree. Barrington's median
income: $74,591.
One distressing set of figures is the increase in childhood poverty.
In the 1990s, West Warwick became the sixth community in which more than
15 percent of children lived in poverty. The others are Providence, Central
Falls, Newport, Pawtucket and Woonsocket.
The
federal poverty guideline for a family of three is an annual income of
$15,020 and $18,100 for a family of four. In 1990, two-thirds of all poor
children lived in the five poorest communities in the state. Now three-quarters
are concentrated in six communities.
"We need to pay attention to kids in these cities," said Elizabeth Burke
Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, a children's advocacy
group. "We need to focus our resources on how they are doing in school
and continue to support such programs as the RIte Care medical-insurance
program. It is more critical than ever that we give poor families access
to preventative health care."
English language skills continue to be a barrier for some of the state's
newer immigrants, experts say.
Luisa C. Murillo, executive director of the Center for Hispanic Policy
and Advocacy, added that an immigrant might leave school and work to support
a family.
"It's not uncommon that they have to stop education in their own country
[in order to earn money] to come here," Murillo said. "It's also not uncommon
for people to work to send money back home."
Murillo
said the U.S. Census data prove that current English as a Second Language
classes are insufficient, and that more adult education classes must be
offered in Spanish. "In addition, we also need to develop more programs
for literacy in Spanish," she said.
There
is a waiting list of about 1,600 people for the English classes run by
the International Institute in South Providence, said director William
Shuey.
"It is not always easy for an immigrant to learn English, but learning
the language is almost always a priority for an immigrant," he said. "Ninety
percent of our students are working poor."
THE 1990s were a glossy decade for those at the top of the heap -- the
Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute estimates that income
for the top one-fifth of Rhode Island households increased by an average
of 20 percent.
But
those in the bottom fifth averaged a loss of 3 percent, a rich-get-richer
and poor-get-poorer scenario that has increased income inequality in Rhode
Island and many other states.
The top 20 percent of Rhode Island households earned an average of $151,
188, while the bottom fifth earned an average of $16,981, according to
Heather Bouchey, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. In a
state where generations worked in the red-brick factories that still mark
Rhode Island, hardly anyone does anymore.
Yet,
experts say the continuing decline in manufacturing employment is not
just the usual sad tale of shuttered plants and workers consigned to the
unemployment line.
More
factories that are staying in Rhode Island have invested in labor-saving
machines and techniques, so productivity is on the upswing, says Leonard
Lardaro, a professor of economics at the University of Rhode Island.
"These
companies are doing more with less and that is good," says Lardaro. "The
downside is that the workers who are laid off from these jobs tend to
be those with low skills. They lack the literacy and computer skills needed
in today's economy."
About 120,000 Rhode Islanders say they are foreign-born, with the largest
group of those -- 37 percent -- hailing from Latin America. Latinos now
make up about 9 percent of the state's population.
The native Yankee population and the European ancestry groups who were
Rhode Island's 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants are fading.
The
number of people who say they are of English (down 22 percent), Scottish
(down 17 percent), Scotch-Irish (down 12 percent), German (down 24 percent),
French (down 15 percent) and French Canadian (down 8 percent) ancestry
are on the decline.
On
the upswing are those who trace their ancestry to Latin America, Africa
or simply call themselves "American."
"The world has changed and Rhode Island is changing slowly along with
it," Lardaro said.
With reports from the Associated Press
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