Paid Time Off Twice As Likely For College Graduates As For High School Dropouts

College graduates are twice as likely to get paid time off as high school dropouts, according to a report released on Thursday by the Labor Department.

Seventy-two percent of employed college graduates had access to paid time off from their employers last year, in contrast to 35 percent of high school dropouts with jobs. One in four employed high school dropouts did not have access to any unpaid leave last year.

Common reasons for leave from work include vacation, an illness, childcare, elder-care and childbirth. The Labor Department's findings imply that many high school dropouts are being forced to work through having a child or enduring an illness.

Moreover, high school dropouts in the workforce are three times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates, according to the Labor Department, and workers with only a high school degree or some college education are roughly twice as likely to be unemployed as college graduates.

The recession has hurt less educated workers more because employers have been able to replace many lower-skill jobs with technological innovations and lower-paid work abroad. That has given less educated workers less bargaining power with their employers.

College graduates, on the other hand, have withstood the economic downturn better than those with less education. They have significantly less unemployment and higher earnings, as well as that paid time off.

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