The term blue collar has in the past implied a certain lack of worker education as well, but those lines are blurred today. Today blue collar workers can be formally educated, skilled and highly paid. They can also earn more annually then some of their white collar counterparts.
The rate of college attendance in the U.S. has skyrocketed in the past 100 years, democratizing the education level once reserved for only wealthy families. Blue collar work does not typically carry a negative connotation in the United States, and has in fact been a source of multi-generational pride for millions, especially in the geographic northeast, where most of country's heavy industry first developed over 150 years ago.
white collar
. Alludes to the typical color of work shirts worn by mechanics, laborers, etc.) •His parents were both blue-collar workers. He was the first person in his family to go to college.
•They bought a house in a nice, settled, blue-collar neighborhood.