School achievement and labour market outcomes

Abstract

Literacy and numeracy skills, it has been argued, influence labour market outcomes such as earnings and unemployment. However, achievement in these foundation skills at school has seldom been used in investigations of unemployment. Longitudinal data allow the effects of earlier school achievement to be investigated net of background factors. Higher qualifications are associated with lower levels of unemployment and higher earnings but it has not been established whether this arises from the qualifications themselves or because more academically able young people tend to obtain higher qualifications. Longitudinal data are required to investigate the extent to which qualifications influence employment and earnings. <P> In addition many aspects of social background and environments are associated with school achievement, school completion and labour market outcomes (Williams, 1989). For that reason the effects of factors such as age, aspects of social background and prevailing level of unemployment need to be incorporated in investigations of labour market outcomes. This paper reports on analyses of the influence of various factors, including school achievement and attainment, on the employment and earnings of young adults. It uses longitudinal data from four cohorts of young people who were followed from school into their twenties over the 1980s and 1990s. More detailed analyses are reported in two research reports (Marks & Fleming, 1998ab).