In times of economic crisis a university degree makes the difference between employed and unemployed

Unemployment rates among university graduates versus people who did not complete high school

Unemployment rates among university graduates stood at 4.4% on average across OECD countries in 2009. But people who did not complete high school faced unemployment rates of 11.5%, up from 8.7% the year before. This adds to the huge problem of youth unemployment that today exceeds 17% in the OECD area.
“The cost to individuals and society of young people leaving school without a qualification keeps rising,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “We must avoid the risk of a lost generation by all means. Despite strained public budgets, governments must keep up their investment to maintain quality in education, especially for those most at risk. Investment in education is not only about money, it’s also an investment in people and an investment in the future.”

Over 50% of 15 to 19 year-olds who are not in school are unemployed

Based on current graduation trends, 82% of young people today will complete upper secondary education, but those who do not will face ever greater challenges in entering and staying in the job market. Over 50% of 15 to 19 year-olds who are not in school are unemployed or out of the labour force. In most countries, youth not in employment, education or training receive no welfare support. And compared with older age groups, they are twice as likely to give up looking for work and lose touch with the labour market entirely.

Governments therefore need to invest in education

Governments therefore need to invest in education. In the long-run, their budgets will benefit from investment in education. The better educated are less likely to need unemployment benefits or welfare assistance, and pay more tax when they enter the job market.

Key Findings of ‘Education at a Glance’

Education spending

• OECD countries spent 6.1% of their GDP on education in 2008. Between 2000 and 2008, expenditure increased at a faster rate than GDP in 25 of the 32 countries for which data are available via the OECD website.
• Expenditure per student by tertiary educational institutions increased 14 percentage points on average in OECD countries from 2000 to 2008. Spending per tertiary student fell in 7 of the 30 countries with available data as expenditure did not keep up with expanding enrolments.
• The share of private funding at tertiary level increased in 20 of the 26 countries for which comparable data are available between 2000 and 2008. The share increased by six percentage points, on average, and by more than fifteen percentage points in Portugal, the Slovak Republic and the United Kingdom.
• Spending on teachers’ salaries in 2009 accounted for an average 63% of current expenditure on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education combined in OECD countries. Between 2000 and 2009, teachers’ salaries increased in real terms in most countries. The largest increases – of well over 50% – were seen in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Turkey. The only exceptions to this trend were Australia, France, Japan and Switzerland where salaries declined.

International students

• Over the past three decades, the number of international students has risen dramatically, from 800, 000 worldwide in 1975 to 3.7 million in 2009. Australia, the UK, Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand have the highest percentage of international students at tertiary level.
• China contributes 18.2% of all international students from non-OECD countries enrolled in the OECD area (not including an additional 1.3% from Hong Kong, China).

Gender equality

• Young women are now more likely than men to finish upper secondary education in every OECD country except for Germany and Switzerland.
• Women make up the majority of students and graduates in almost all OECD countries and largely dominate in the fields of education, health and welfare, and humanities and arts. Men dominate in engineering, manufacturing and construction.

Source: OECD