Spatial and social mobility in England and Wales: A sub‐national analysis of differences and trends over time

Recent studies of social mobility have documented that not only who your parents are, but also where you grow up, substantially influences subsequent life chances. We bring these two concepts together to study social mobility in England and Wales, in three post-war generations, using linked Decennial Census data. Our findings show considerable spatial variation in rates of absolute and relative mobility, as well as how these have changed over time. While upward mobility increased in every region between the mid-1950s and the early 1980s, this shift varied across different regions and tailed off for more recent cohorts. We also explore how domestic migration is related to social mobility, finding that those who moved out of their region of origin had higher rates of upward mobility compared to those who stayed, although this difference narrowed over time

Estimating earnings returns to vocational qualifications using administrative data

In this paper we update the findings from Buscha and Urwin (2013), estimating separately the (i) earnings, (ii) employment probability and (iii) probability of being on active benefits, for those who achieve their highest learning aim whilst studying at an English Further Education Institution (FEI), relative to those who have the same highest learning aim, but do not achieve. Estimates are obtained using the 2002-2012 ILR-WPLS administrative dataset, and the findings provide a robust estimate of the value added from each qualification, when held as an individual’s highes

How much does degree choice matter?

We use a large and novel administrative dataset to investigate returns to different university ‘degrees’ (subject-institution combinations) in the United Kingdom. Conditioning on a rich set of background characteristics, we find substantial variation in returns across degrees with similar selectivity levels, suggesting students’ degree choices matter a lot for later-life earnings. Returns increase with university selectivity much more at the top of the selectivity distribution than further down, and much more for some subjects than others. Returns are poorly correlated with observable degree characteristics other than selectivity, which could have important implications for student choices and the incentives of universities

The impact of undergraduate degrees on early-career earnings

This report uses the new Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) administrative dataset to provide the latest estimates of the impact of Higher Education (HE) on individuals’ early-career earnings after accounting for individuals’ pre-university characteristics. This will provide vital evidence for prospective students choosing whether, where and what to study at university

Financial expectations and the ‘left–right’ political value scale: testing for the POUM hypothesis

Using a uniquely defined indicator of political ideology we test whether expectations of future financial well-being have an effect on an individual’s position on the political ‘left–right’ spectrum. We find evidence of a significant “prospect of upward mobility” effect

Returns to Education: Individuals

Study of the “returns to education” has been one of the most productive areas of research in labor economics for the last seven decades, and it is very likely that it will continue to be a major topic in the future. Understanding how and why investments in education impact upon later economic outcomes, and more precisely quantifying the “return,” is important for a range of questions relevant to both policymakers and individuals. Moreover, beyond the labor market, the “returns to education” literature has expanded to consider the impact of education on outcomes in a variety of additional domains. This chapter first reviews the theoretical foundations of the “returns to education” literature and key considerations for the implementation of the canonical model. It then surveys the empirical evidence on the private financial return to education and the impact of education on other life outcomes. The final part of the chapter considers the current research frontier in this literature and likely directions for future research. The primary pathway is expected to be the further development and estimation of models that are better able to characterize the education investment decision and relax the numerous strong assumptions embedded in the canonical model. An additional pathway is the continued development of research that addresses questions broadening the concept of the “returns to education” into areas that are yet to be fully explored in the existing literature