Details
- Publication date
- 21 November 2013
- Authors
- Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture | European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE)
- Geographical scope
- European Union
- Level of education focus
- Adult education
- Higher education
- School education
- Vocational education and training (VET)
- Thematic areas covered
- Education-to-work transitions, education and labour market
- Educational attainment and participation in education
- Governance of education
- Investment in education, economic impact of education
- Lifelong learning
- Monitoring and quality assurance
- Quality and inclusive education for all
- Skills development
- Teachers and trainers
- Whole-school and whole-system approaches and partnerships in education
Description
This report explores the multiple costs of early school leaving—private, fiscal, and social—and discusses policies to reduce its prevalence in Europe. It details lost lifetime earnings, lower tax revenues, higher welfare reliance, worse health, and increased crime as key consequences.
It emphasizes the challenges of measuring these costs, including the need for causal data and consideration of unobservable factors. A wide range of European and international studies is reviewed, highlighting the long-term benefits of policies like raising the compulsory school age and providing targeted support to disadvantaged students. However, the report notes that many interventions lack rigorous evaluation. It advocates for data-rich, ex-ante and ex-post cost-benefit analyses to ensure effective resource allocation.
The authors conclude that addressing early school leaving requires both systemic reforms and well-designed, targeted policies supported by strong empirical evidence.
Authors
Giorgio Brunello and Maria De Paola
Cite as
Brunello, G., De Paola, M. (2014), Early School Leaving in Europe: What Does it Cost Individuals and Society?, EENEE Policy Briefing no. 1/2014.
