Obtaining or not obtaining

1. Obtaining or not obtaining a general education graduation certificate (Hauptschulabschluss)The impact on employment, income, and lifestyle Alexandra Kloß and Johannes Jaenicke University of Erfurt Research question Results 1. Income • To what extend does a successful general school education change the life of a person regarding • his/her chances in working life, • the leisure activities and • the health status of an individual? • To what extend is the educational attainment correlated intergenerationally? Mean net income Net income in prices 2008 New Laender Old Laender Secondary general school education 3000 2000 1000 0 Secondary general school education Introduction without graduation without graduation • Our empirical investigation compares the groups with and without a general education graduation certificate looking at 25,000 respondents of the representative ALLBUS survey interviewed between 1980 to 2008 in the Old and additionally after 1990 in the New Laender. • We find remarkable and frequently significant differences between both groups: • the average net income increases from 924 to 1,200 Euros in prices of 2008 upon successful graduation • the probability of full-time occupation increases from 21.4% to 34.5% and for part-time occupation from 3.6% to 5.4%. • the probability of unemployment in the last 10 years decreases from 28.2% to 18.3%. • Additionally, we find pronounced group-specific differences in educational level of partners and friends, leisure activities, social contacts, subjective health feeling and well-being and in BMI. • Obtaining a general secondary school certificate has clear positive effects on the personal life income, health and happiness indicators as well as on the national income and the human development index of a nation. 2. Employment 1991 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 1991 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 without graduation Secondary general school education Vocational training Occupation Technical or vocational college certificate (“Fachschulabschluss”) Compact vocational training course (“Teilfacharbeiterabschluß”. former East Germany)Other vocational training certificate University degree (“Hochschulabschluss”) Polytechnic degree (or engineering college degree) (“Fachhochschulabschluss) Master(craftsman), technician or equivalent college certificate (“Meister-. Techniker- oder gleichwertiger Fachschulabschluss”)Work placement/internship (“Berufliches Praktikum. Volontariat”)Specialized vocational college certificate (“Berufsfachschulabschluss”)Completed commercial traineeship (“Abgeschlossene kaufmännische Lehre”) Completed trades/crafts or agricultural traineeship (“Abgeschlossene gewerbliche oder landwirtschaftliche Lehre”)No completed vocational training Secondary general school education No graduation Short- time work Not employed Pupil. Student Pensioner Housewife.-man Military Service/Civilian Service Out of work Inactive Population Besides employed Regular half-time occupation Regular full-time occupation Secondary general school education No graduation 3. Way of Life Theory • The human capital theory is a modern extension of Adam Smith`s explanation of wage differentials by the so-called net (dis)advantages between different employments. The costs of learning are an important component of net advantage. Gary S. Becker and Jacob Mincer claim that, other things like ability and motivation being equal, personal incomes vary according to the amount of investment in human capital, that is, the quantity and quality of education and training undertaken by individuals or groups. • The educational decision is explained by rational or limited rational choice theory, taking into account the social status and preferences of the family. Raymond Boudon presents a model of social immobility. The inequality of educational opportunitiy is explained by primary and secondary effects of social stratification. The primary effects result from cultural capital (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1970), the secondary effects from differences in social status cost/benefit profiles of educational choices. • References: • Becker, G. S.(1993): Der ökonomische Ansatz zur Erklärung menschlichen Verhaltens. Mohr. Tübingen 1993. • Boudon, R. (1974): Education. Opportunity. and Social Inequality: Changing Prospects in Western Society. New York et. al. : Wiley-Interscience. • Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J.-C. (1970): La Reproduction, Editions de Minuit, Paris. • Mincer, J.A. (1974): Schooling. Experience. and Earnings. Columbia University Press. 1974. • Esser, H. (1999): Soziologie. Spezielle Grundlagen. Band 1: Situationslogik und Handeln. Frankfurt/New York. 1999. • Schultz, T. (1992): The economic value of education. Studies in the economics of education. Elgar Books. Aldershot. Two-Step Cluster analysis • Using Bayesian information criterion. Including: • socio-demographic and educational characteristics of the respondent, • the highest school degree of his/her mother, • the employment status of a friend, • net income earned in prices of 2008 and the • Treimann prestige score. German General Social Survey (ALLBUS/GGSS) • Conducted biennally since 1980. • From 1980 to 1990, the sample consisted of 3.000 West German and West Berlin respondents. • In 1991, 1,500 respondents were selected from the Old and 1,500 from the New Laender, and since 1992 the sample has been weighted by population so that 2,400 interviews are conducted in the Old and 1,100 in the New Laender. • Total of 51.416 respondents over time. • Cluster one: • 415 male respondents, • all respondents having a general school degree, • average net income of 1,867 Euro (prices 2008), • mothers with a general school certificate. • Cluster two: • 111 male and 270 female respondents, • 6.6% without a general school degree, • average net income of 1.202 Euro (prices 2008), • more migration background, • more persons with no vocational degree, • mothers education varies from no school certificate to secondary school level I certificate.