By CONOR DOUGHERTY From The Wall Street Journal
GARY, Ind.—Fifteen years after high school, the working lives of Tremell Sinclair and Phyllis Sellars have evolved very differently, largely because of a single decision.
Ms. Sellars went to college; Mr. Sinclair didn't.
That decision has always shaped their economic prospects, but never more so than during the recent recession: Ms. Sellars kept her white-collar job, recently landing a pay raise, while Mr. Sinclair was laid off from his forklift driving job last year and only just found a new one—at a 46% lower salary.
Paul Octavious for the Wall Street Journal
Tremell Sinclair, right, a former forklift driver, finally found work after a long search, but at a much lower wage than before. He and son, Tremell Jr., at a high-school reunion in Gary, Ind.
The classmates illustrate a divide between the fortunes of Americans with college degrees and those without. It's not only that the college educated earn more, but that they are far more likely to keep their jobs when times get tough.
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