Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment, Earnings, and Professional Engagement: New Insights from the 2021 National Survey of College Graduates

Oct 15, 2026

This InfoBrief examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected college-educated workers, using newly collected results from the 2021 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG). It reviews changes in employment and nonemployment, the labor-force status breakdown by occupation and race/ethnicity, and the specific reasons for part-time work or not working. The report also highlights pandemic-related details captured by NSCG, including telework arrangements and salary effects, alongside job benefits, professional activity participation, and job satisfaction measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Labor Force Statuses and Reasons for Not Working

Table 1: Labor force status of college graduates, by broad occupation, race, and ethnicity: 2021

InfoBrief Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment, Earnings, and Professional Engagement: New Insights from the 2021 National Survey of College Graduates NSF 23-307 | January 2023 Ariel J. Binder, Michaela Dillon, Lynn Milan, and Kelly Phou The number of college graduates in the United States reached nearly 68.6 million in 2021, of which approximately 68 million had ever held a job, with nearly 52 million currently employed and 16 million not employed.1 Although the number of employed college graduates increased by 1.2 million (2 . 5%) between 2019 and 2021, the number of nonemployed college graduates increased by 2.5 million (17 .9%) . This large increase in nonemployment coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and signals important changes in the labor market for college graduates. This InfoBrief provides an overview of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the college-educated workforce, drawing on new data from the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) . In addition to collecting basic information on labor force status and earnings, the NSCG collects detailed information on reasons for nonemployment, access to various job benefits, participation in professional activities, and measures of job satisfaction. The 2021 cycle of the NSCG elicited additional information related to the pandemic, such as pandemic-related reasons for not working, presence of telework arrangements, and pandemic-related salary effects. Some of this information is highlighted below. Labor Force Statuses and Reasons for Not Working Table 1 presents the labor force status of college graduates in the United States in 2021, disaggregated by broad occupation2 and racial group. Roughly 52 million (76%) college graduates were employed. Among those employed, 44.2 million (85%) worked full time (i.e., worked 35 or more hours per week) and the remaining 7.6 million (15%) worked part time. Approximately 2.5 million of these part-time workers (33%) cited family responsibilities as a reason for their parttime status, 2.4 million (32%) cited an involuntary reduction of working hours, and 1.6 million (21%) cited a lack of available full-time jobs.3 Table 1 Labor force status of college graduates, by broad occupation, race, and ethnicity: 2021 (Number) | Labor force status and characteristic | Broad occupation | | | | Race and ethnicity | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Total | S&E | S&Erelated | Non-S&E | Asian | Black or African
American | White | AIAN, NHPI, multiple race | Hispanic or Latinoa | | Totalb | 67,925,000 | 9,640,000 | 11,936,000 | 46,349,000 | 6,721,000 | 5,260,000 | 47,485,000 | 1,926,000 | 6,532,000 | | Full-time employment status | 44,153,000 | 7,230,000 | 7,975,000 | 28,948,000 | 4,772,000 | 3,618,000 | 29,833,000 | 1,322,000 | 4,608,000 | | Part-time employment status | 7,611,000 | 664,000 | 1,547,000 | 5,400,000 | 703,000 | 491,000 | 5,540,000 | 178,000 | 699,000 | | Selected reasons for | | | | | | | | | | | part-time statusc | | | | | | | | | | | Family
responsibilities | 2,493,000 | 164,000 | 614,000 | 1,715,000 | 264,000 | 143,000 | 1,772,000 | 55,000 | 260,000 | | Due to coronavirus pandemic only | 454,000 | 38,000 | 87,000 | 329,000 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 269,000 | 7,000 | 99,000 | | Unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic | 1,184,000 | 70,000 | 308,000 | 806,000 | 114,000 | 60,000 | 918,000 | 21,000 | 72,000 | | Full-time job not available | 1,611,000 | 99,000 | 218,000 | 1,294,000 | 164,000 | 140,000 | 1,047,000 | 55,000 | 206,000 | | Due to coronavirus pandemic only | 581,000 | 28,000 | 90,000 | 463,000 | 70,000 | 72,000 | 328,000 | 32,000 | 80,000 | | Unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic | 807,000 | 57,000 | 104,000 | 646,000 | 73,000 | 53,000 | 558,000 | 18,000 | 105,000 | | Hours or work reduced | 2,413,000 | 152,000 | 541,000 | 1,720,000 | 220,000 | 192,000 | 1,706,000 | 69,000 | 226,000 | | Due to coronavirus pandemic only | 1,3

FAQs

What data source does the InfoBrief use to study COVID-19 effects on college graduates?

It uses new data from the 2021 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG). The NSCG covers labor-force status, earnings, reasons for nonemployment, job benefits, professional activities, and job satisfaction, with added pandemic-related questions.

How did employment and nonemployment among college graduates change from 2019 to 2021?

Employed college graduates increased by about 1.2 million (2.5%), while nonemployed college graduates increased by about 2.5 million (17.9%). The report links this rise in nonemployment with the COVID-19 pandemic and signals changes in the labor market.

What reasons explain why some college graduates worked part time or were not working?

Table 1 groups reasons such as family responsibilities, involuntary reduction of working hours, and lack of available full-time jobs for part-time status, and reasons including family responsibilities, layoffs, retirement, not in labor force, and unemployment for not working. It also distinguishes which reasons were due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Riley West