At least here in the states I can tell you that even with a proper education the likelyhood of finding a decent paying job is minimal at best. They simply don't exist, or the companies that are hiring are demanding applicants to have such an extended amount of experience (some 5-10+ years in the job field) that recent graduates and fresh members of the workforce simply have no choice but to take menial jobs to survive. As I mentioned earlier, not only myself and my woman are in this predicament, but I know several people that I graduated college with that have either A) Found employment at a decent wage and been laid off due to cutbacks or not had their employment contracts renewed or B) Haven't been able to find anyone willing to hire a fresh graduate. The average wage for a two person household isn't that high here, roughly $25k-$45k per year gross annual pay. After taxes its even less . The global economy is in a terrible slump and we're all feeling it. For many people who previously had little to no financial worry its now a struggle just to pay the bills. The whole "Go to College / Uni and get a great job!" slogan doesn't work any longer. Maybe in 1980 when half the world still worked well-payed tradeskill jobs, but now a days everyone has a fancy piece of paper, to the point where they're a dime a dozen. College isn't special if everyone goes.