Educational Inequality

Jo Blanden (), Matthias Doepke and Jan Stuhler
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Jo Blanden: University of Surrey

No 15225, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This chapter provides new evidence on educational inequality and reviews the literature on the causes and consequences of unequal education. We document large achievement gaps between children from different socio-economic backgrounds, show how patterns of educational inequality vary across countries, time, and generations, and establish a link between educational inequality and social mobility. We interpret this evidence from the perspective of economic models of skill acquisition and investment in human capital. The models account for different channels underlying unequal education and highlight how endogenous responses in parents' and children's educational investments generate a close link between economic inequality and educational inequality. Given concerns over the extended school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, we also summarize early evidence on the impact of the pandemic on children's education and on possible long-run repercussions for educational inequality.

Keywords: educational inequality; education finance; social mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 128 pages
Date: 2022-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-fdg, nep-ltv, nep-pke and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: E. A. Hanushek, S. Machin, L. Woessmann (eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, Amsterdam and Oxford, 2023, 6, 405-497

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https://docs.iza.org/dp15225.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Education inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Education inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality (2022)
Working Paper: Educational Inequality* (2022)
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