Estimating the return to schooling of the young population by income class: 1997-2012

Abstract

The labor market is constantly changing and it is different depending on worker age range, income class, education, among other worker characteristics. In this study, we seek to analyze the labor market for young people according to their family income per capita, with special emphasis on education. Young people’s education and training are essential to increase their income, as in the first decade of this century in Brazil. However, the results indicate a decrease in the returns to schooling in the period analyzed in the present study, mainly to young workers from lower income classes, which is a challenge to the maintenance of the income rise process. One possibility to foster young workers’ income is to invest in education quality, but further analysis is needed to verify the determinants of the returns to schooling differences among the youth of the three income classes.