How Educational Attainment affects Employment rate and Earnings
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Introduction
Exploring the impact of educational attainment among young people offers valuable insights
into societal trends and economic dynamics. This visual storytelling project delves into how educational
choices
influence employment rates and earnings, with a focus on the 18-24 age group across OECD countries.
The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) is an international organization made up
of 38
member countries. Its goal is to promote policies that improve economic and social well-being worldwide.
Who are “Young people”?
Young people in the age group of 18-24 years old form a significant part of the population. However, not everyone
is in education; some already enter the workforce from a young age, while others become NEETs (Not in Education,
Employment, or Training). Obtaining employment can be quite challenging, as this is often the first time many of
us will seek employment.
We want to understand how our level of education can impact our chances of getting
employed and our future earnings.
How many are in education?
About 54% (OECD Average) of young people decide to go to study to improve their chances of getting a job
that pays well.
However, this has become more of a rule than an exception making the job market still quite competitive.
While the majority of the youth that isn't in education is employed, the percentage of those who are not in
education, employment or training (NEET) is still quite high.
By clicking the button below, you can see the distribution of young people in education and those who are
not in
education, divided by employment status.
Let's now take a look of what happens afterwards. How does education affect
employment
and earnings?
The impact of Education on Employment/Earnings
Age group: 25-65
When examining the data, it becomes clear that individuals with university degrees have a higher employment
rate
than their peers who didn't pursue higher education. However, this advantage in employment opportunities
decreases
as one pursues further education. Nonetheless, it remains an important factor to consider, especially when seeking
employment in contexts where visa applications may be affected by educational qualifications. Additionally, it's
evident that higher education significantly influences earnings.
By using the buttons below, you can switch between the employment and earnings data.
ISCED: International Standard Classification of Education. Level 3:
Upper secondary
education.
Ideally, as a migrant, where should you be?
Youth migration is a common phenomenon across Europe, young people are often more willing to learn new languages,
change professions etc. in order to work or study abroad, but the move isn't always worth it.
Some countries can be quite favourable for migrant youths such as Poland, Sweden and Iceland
provided you
have
a higher
educational attainment similar to other migrants. While in the Netherlands and Lithuania employment
is still
better than most despite a low educational attainment.
For others, it might be better to try to find work somewhere else.
Conclusions & References
Below are the sources and datasets used in our exploration of employment opportunities for young professionals.
The datasets that focus on earnings and percentage of youth employment were sourced from the OECD webpage. We also
looked at migrant data that we obtaind from Eurostat's datasets.
Data from 2022 was used to provide the most recent information available.
We hope that our visual storytelling project has provided you with valuable insights into the relationship
between education and employment, and how it can affect the lives of young people.
Disclaimer: We are not experts but want to help people with the information we wished
we had.
