The American
Dream mythology says that if you work hard and play by the rules you can be a
success. This mythology ignores the fact that people born into affluent
families have a far greater chance of attaining financial success than people
born into lower income families precisely because of all the advantages and
privileges that come with affluence. Those who rise out of poverty and achieve
the American Dream are extremely rare and the exception to the rule.
A new study,
“Working Hard, Left Behind,” by the Campaign for College Opportunity, found
that over 33% of California families are low income (earning less than $45,397
for a family of four) despite their hard work. The state currently ranks #1 in
the nation in the number of working poor families. The solution, the Los Angeles Times argues, is higher education. Since
Californians with Bachelor’s degrees earn $1,340,000 more in their lifetimes
than those with only high school diplomas, making everyone go to college would
necessarily solve the problem, right?
According to
the Times, the study found that “higher education is a proven pathway from
poverty to prosperity for working Californians.” However, in science we
generally require a high level of evidence before we can say we have proof and
the evidence simply isn’t there to say that higher education is a “proven
pathway to prosperity.” Consider all the unemployed people with higher degrees.
Both the
Times, and apparently the researchers at the Campaign for College Opportunity,
have confused correlation with causation. Yes, people with college degrees
do tend to earn more than those who lack them, but that doesn’t mean that the
degree is the cause of their financial success. Affluence increases the chances
that a person will do well in grades K-12, increasing the chances of getting
into a four-year college and succeeding there, as well. While college
achievement does indeed correlate with future financial success, affluence
correlates with both academic success and
financial success. Thus, it is entirely possible, indeed likely, that familial
wealth is the cause of future financial success, in part because it increases
the chances of academic success.
The
conflation of correlation with causation has led the Times and the
Campaign for College Opportunity to some absurd policy prescriptions, like proposal
that we increase enrollment of low income adults in colleges, while doing
nothing to directly address their poverty. Of course it would be wonderful if
the state were to increase funding for its universities and community colleges and
provide the financial aid so that every adult in the state could attend
college, or even just provide childcare for single mothers, but this would not
solve the problem for several obvious reasons. Many low income adults lack the
prerequisite skills to succeed in college, including literacy, self-confidence,
and study skills. Indeed, many have the equivalent of an elementary school
reading level or a long history of academic failure. Many are working full time
to support their families and simply lack the time and energy to complete
college classes on the side.
Considering
that a wealth-based achievement gap exists by the time children are three (and
it tends to grow as children move through the education system), it would be a
lot more efficient to invest in programs that reduce poverty and material
insecurity for families, that encourage parents to read and play with their
children, that improve perinatal and children’s health, as well as preschool
programs that prepare kids for kindergarten. This would front load the system
by increasing the number of people graduating high school with the skills to
succeed in college.
However,
there is another problem with the Time’s and the Campaign’s reasoning: Even if
everyone graduated from college there would continue to be a significant wealth
gap. Want and privation are products of wealth and privilege, which in turn are
products of an economic system based on exploitation. So long as there is an
employing class that pays its employees only a fraction of the value of the
goods and services they produce, pocketing the rest as profits, there will
continue to be poverty. Likewise, as long as workers accept their dependence on
employers, especially without a fight, there will continue to be a downward
spiral in wages for everyone, including the college educated. Consider, for
example, how much the average middle class, college educated family has lost in
personal wealth over the past five years, or the overall decline in living
standards that has been occurring since the 1970s for all but the richest
Americans.
