The two tables present data on the incomes of people who are graduates and non-graduates in the UK during a 10-year period from 2000 to 2010.
Upon examining the data, it is obvious that the average salaries of graduates were consistently higher than that of non-graduates regardless of age groups. Moreover, the salaries tended to witness an upward trend from age 22 before a moderate drop was seen in the wages of people aged 52 or 62.
It can be observed that graduates aged 22 earned a salary of 15,800 pounds, which then increased to be more than doubled at age 32, at 31,500 pounds. This figure continued to rise and hit a peak of 33,900 pounds in the middle stages of their career before moderately decreasing by more than 10,000 pounds when they reached 62.
A relatively similar pattern in the breakdown of salaries by age group was seen in the salaries of non-graduates. 14,500 pounds were earned by people who were 22, climbing to 19,100 pounds at age 32 and remaining stable in their forties. However, when they reached 52, their incomes slightly fell to 18,200 pounds and hit a low of 15,300 pounds at age 62.
The average salaries of all age groups saw a significant gap between graduates and non-graduates, at 29,900 pounds and 17,800 pounds, respectively. At age 22, graduates earned 15,800 pounds, about 1,300 pounds more than non-graduates at 14,500 pounds. This gap widened as age increased, with graduates earning nearly double non-graduates’ salaries by age 32.