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This document explores the analytical usefulness of class categorization in shaping education policies to address key issues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). With high unemployment rates among young females and significant child labor statistics, the analysis identifies the pressing need for focused policies on lower economic classes. Recommendations include reallocating public education funding, investing in preschool, and implementing selective cost recovery in higher education. The findings highlight the social returns of education and the need for targeted policies to uplift disadvantaged populations and foster economic growth.
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LEO 2011 Education points George Psacharopoulos gpsach@rcn.com
Illustrative statistics To what class do they really relate? • Middle? • Upper? • Lower?
Development Indicators, 2009The World Bank • LAC, female 15-24 unemployment 21% • LAC, population under $2/day 17% Gini: • Brazil .55 • Chile .52 • Ecuador .54
LAC, Child labor, boys 7-14 • Peru 26% • Bolivia 24% Primary school completion • Nicaragua, boys 70%
Question What is the analytical usefulness of class categorization in defining policy to solve the above problems???
Middle class focus? • Descriptive rather than analytical • Elastic • Categorical rather than continuous • End up with real variables • Tautology rather than cause-effect • Circularity • Policy relevance?
Better focus on lower class? • Design policies to upgrade to middle class • Invest in preschool – Highest social returns • (Lack of incidence studies) • Reallocate public education expenditure from the middle to the lower class • Selective cost recovery in higher education • Tuition fees for the rich cum subsidies for the poor • Expand student loans – Efficient, equitable
Education returns and the cycle (%) Returns to education 10 Economic growth 2010 1965
LEO 2012+ Education!