Why ‘worthless’ humanities degrees may set you up for life. ‘Of course, it goes without saying that you can be an excellent communicator and critical thinker without a liberal arts degree… But few courses of study are quite as heavy on reading, writing, speaking and critical thinking as the liberal arts, in particular the humanities… It’s true that the humanities come with a higher risk of unemployment. But it’s worth noting that the risk is slighter than you’d imagine. For young people (aged 25-34) in the US, the unemployment rate of those with a humanities degree is 4%. An engineering or business degree comes with an unemployment rate of a little more than 3%. That single additional percentage point is one extra person per 100, such a small amount it’s often within the margin of error of many surveys.’

• Further information.

Related