Now that the recession is now “officially over” parents should protect their children from future job uncertainties. This morning’s Wall Street Journal carried a front page article about unemployment rates for those with only a high school education and those with a college degree. For over twenty years the rate for high school workers has always been higher than that for those with a degree, as seen in the chart.

The rate difference continues to increase and will be so for the foreseeable future. The reason is clear. The majority of jobs lost are due to the many low paying manufacturing and service jobs that have been outsourced to countries with lower pay scales. These jobs are gone forever: consider the horse drawn carriage business when automobiles became popular.

New jobs require skills in mathematics, use of the computer, and the ability to make quick decisions. Companies are now hiring from state universities that produce young decision makers, and community colleges that graduate specialists in technical skills.

Insure that your children will find work when they become adults. Motivate them to study hard. Check their progress in every grade. Are they doing their homework? Are they taking some college level courses in high school? Talk to their teachers not as adversaries but as experts who can tell you what your children need to study. If you don’t care, who will?