Skip to Main Content | Colorblind Mode: On • Off

Chapter 17: Social Policy
What Government Does and Why It Matters
The value of an education can be seen by the statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.

The value of an education can be seen by the statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.

Go to www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf and look at Figure 6 (on page 6 of 13).
1. Compute the percentage of salary difference between a man and a woman at each level of education. Divide the larger number into the smaller number and subtract the answer from 100. Alternatively, subtract the smaller number from the larger number and divide the difference by the larger number. The first two rows have been filled in for you as an example.

At which level is the difference the greatest? The least? How can you explain this?
2. Why does a woman with a master’s degree make less than a man with a bachelor’s degree?
3. Compute the following differences:

Between men who are high school graduates and men who are college graduates: __________ percent

Between women who are high school graduates and women who are college graduates: __________ percent

Between men with bachelor’s degrees and men with master’s degrees: __________ percent

Between women with bachelor’s degrees and women with master’s degrees: __________ percent

What generalization can you draw from this data?
4. Does a college education pay? Multiply the average earnings of a high school man and a high school woman (separately) by 47 (the years between ages 18 and 65); then multiply a college graduate’s earnings by 43. Subtract from the college graduate’s earnings four years of high school level earnings (lost income) and the projected costs of your four-year education. What is the difference? How much income is lost by women compared with men? Should you stay in school? Should you pursue an advanced degree?

Submit to Gradebook:

First Name:
 
Last Name:
 
Your Email Address:
 
Your Professor's Email Address:
 
Section:

Print This Page

In This Chapter

Everyday politicsblog.com is an exciting and unique online forum where students and instructors can see how key ideas and themes from Norton’s American government texts help to explain today’s headlines and political trends.

Norton Ebooks

The ebook version We the People, Seventh Edition, offers the full content of the print version at half the price.

Norton Ebooks

The Norton Gradebook

Instructors and students now have an easy way to track online quiz scores with the Norton Gradebook.

Norton Gradebook


Mobilize.org is an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase civic engagement and political participation.