As a mother myself, I hope that when my daughter graduates college that she will be able to live in the St Louis area if she chooses to do so. Whether you are a grandmother, grandfather, father, or mother whose relatives live out of town because they cannot find good quality jobs here at home, we deserve better.
As I mentioned in my Gateway Renaissance economic platform which I released earlier this week, I hear of too many people from the region who would like to return here and raise their families, but are unable to do so because the jobs just are not here. While anecdotes are useful, hard numbers are even more revealing. According to recent data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Missouri continues to see a net migration out of the state among those with bachelors degrees and higher. On a net migration rate basis, Missouri ranks 36th out of 50 among 22-39 year-olds with bachelors degrees or higher. And for those with graduate or professional degrees, we rank 44th out of 50.
Our universities are doing their job. Missouri is a state with an educated population. Indeed, we rank better than average for the percentage of adults aged 25-34 with a bachelors degree or higher. And for those with a graduate or professional degree in that same age group, we rank 15th among the states.
The missing link is our local economy. Other states offer more attractive job opportunities for our young adults and as a result we are suffering from “brain drain.” Our region’s future depends on helping business create high quality jobs that will enable us to keep these future leaders in our area not just for our economy, but also for our families. I am going to continue to share my Gateway Renaissance economic platforrm with voters in the 2nd Congressional District and incorporate their ideas in the platform.
Source of all of the data in this post is http://www.higheredinfo.org/.
How Fixing Our Economy Is Pro-Family and Pro-Growth
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