Greater Equivalency of High School Equivalents? A Study of GEDs and Their Effect on Labor Market Status

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data from 1978, Cameron and Heckman found that GED recipients are indistinguishable from high school dropouts in labor market status. I use more recent data from the 1999-2006, the Current Population Survey (CPS), to provide evidence that GED recipients do earn higher wages than high school dropouts and that GED attainment is associated with greater wage boosts for those who drop out before attending high school. Additional findings suggest that the GED plays little role in labor force participation and employment, but it may help increase one’s chances of being in a higher-paying occupation. This suggests that in more recent years, the GED has offered greater benefits in the labor market.