A new report, from the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing and the international research firm Oxford Economics, found that licensing is associated with 6.5% higher wages, on average, for all professions and occupations in the United States.
Moreover, the research found that, for women and minorities in technical fields requiring significant education and training, a license narrows the gender-driven wage gap by about one-third and the race-driven wage gap by about half.
Female engineers, surveyors, architects, landscape architects and certified public accountants can expect a 6.1% hourly wage increase, on average, after becoming licensed in their field.
These findings should serve as a red flag to lawmakers who might be considering one-size-fits-all legislation in an attempt to roll back state licensing systems this session.
West Virginians are well served by rigorous licensing for engineers, surveyors, architects, CPAs and landscape architects, because it ensures they are held to the highest standards of professionalism. And West Virginians deserve the same consumer protection, high-quality services and caliber of professionals as other states.
Indeed, responsible licensure is a vital means to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare…