Employment

The More Educated Work Two Jobs

Americans who hold down more than one job do so because they need the extra money, right? Figures from a recent Labor Department analysis point to higher education as the motivation behind moonlighting.

  • Just less than 3 percent of those with less than a high school education held down more than one job in 1995 -- but among high school grads the share rose to 5.1 percent.

  • Among college graduates the figure was 7.8 percent, and among those with master's degrees and PhDs the figure was 9 percent to 10 percent.

  • The only exceptions were professionals, such as doctors and lawyers.

In the decade 1979 to 1989, the number of multiple-job holders jumped 25 percent -- to 2.5 million. As of 1989, only 44 percent of two-jobbers cited financial reasons for taking on the extra work.

Source: Gene Koretz, "Those Educated Moonlighters," Business Week, August 4, 1997.

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