The Impact of Education on Income

Hanfei Wang
Spring 2023 — Information Expositions
3 min readFeb 17, 2023

Introduction

Different people might pursue education for different purposes, but it is usually for better employment opportunities and higher income. The purpose of this analysis is to answer the question of whether higher education levels lead to higher income. This analysis is based on data from five tables that provide a snapshot of leisure time activities for various racial groups in the US. The tables contain data regarding the average time spent watching TV, artistic activities, sports participation, income, and weekly working hours. The data is categorized by the degree in rows and race in columns.

Table Descriptions

The first table shows the average time that different races spend watching TV. It is measured in minutes, and the racial groups included are Asian, Black, Mixed, Native, and White. The data shows that, on average, individuals with a college degree or higher spend less time on TV than those with a high school diploma or less. Additionally, the data shows that the time spent on TV varies by race. The black group spends the most time on television, with around 267 minutes for an education level of Less than an HS diploma.

The second table shows the differences in races among those who engage in artistic activities during their leisure time. The data shows that more people from groups with higher levels of education tend to take part in artistic activities, and there are clear differences in the rates of participation between racial groups. The data shows that the black group is less likely to engage in artistic activities than other groups, with a value of 3 for education level less than a high school diploma.

The third table shows the time for groups of different races and degrees that participate in sports during their leisure time. The data shows that individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher are generally less likely to participate in sports, and participation rates vary by race. The data also shows that Asian individuals are less likely to participate in sports than individuals of other races, with a value of 0.966038 for an education level less than a high school diploma.

The fourth table shows the average income for groups of different races and different levels of education. The data shows that individuals with higher levels of education tend to have higher incomes, regardless of race. The data also shows that Asians have the highest average income of $86028 for a doctoral degree, while blacks have the lowest average income of $72211 for the same educational level.

The fifth table shows the average working time for groups of different races and different levels of education. The data shows that people with higher degrees tend to work more hours, regardless of race. The data also shows that Asians have the lowest working hours compared with other groups.

Question

Does a higher education level lead to higher income?

Answer: Yes, a higher education level lead to higher income. It is clear from the information shown in table 4 that a person’s pay will grow proportionally with the number of years they have spent in school, regardless of their race. The striking finding shown in Table 2 is that groups with higher levels of education had a tendency to engage in creative activities for longer periods of time. Based on these two pieces of evidence, one may draw the conclusion that demographics with a higher average level of education have a larger tendency to have a higher income. As a consequence of this, individuals are now able to participate in more expensive forms of recreation, such as athletics and creative endeavors.

Conclusion

The data shown in these five tables offer some intriguing insights into the link between racial identity, educational level, and the kinds of leisure activities people participate in. A better level of education usually results in a higher income, and when people have higher incomes, they tend to have more access to facilities that have higher prices. It is possible that in order to broaden participation in recreational activities, it will be necessary to first raise the educational standards of those groups that currently have lower standards of education and then construct additional recreational facilities for those groups that currently do not have access to such facilities.

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