I see reports like this and think of my dad when we first came to America. He had a degree from IIT in India (like getting one from Stanford or MIT) and it meant nothing when he looked for a job here those initial years. (In the US we basically don’t even recognize international degrees for jobs which is why you so often find the stereotypical immigrant taxi driver that has a degree in chemical engineering or something).

So he always used to make the distinction between looking for a job and looking for work.

Looking for a job is what you do with a degree. You look for a steady 9-5 job usually with one paycheck.

He ended up just looking for work, like pizza delivery, was a car salesman, bus driver, etc. He had trouble finding a job but never had trouble finding work. Some of it required putting aside your ego and thinking “I have to support my family by any means” rather than saying “im an IIT grad, I won’t do work beneath me” - something I only appreciated about what he did when I was older. (When I was young I also appreciated that he worked hard but thought he was just making things harder for himself)

I suspect some of this high rate discrepancy is that people with degrees look only for jobs because they can qualify, but those are harder to find now.

But people that are illiterate or without college degrees are just not even qualified for most “jobs” but they constantly find “work” instead and find it more easily.