Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/260279 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2019:9
Publisher: 
Lund University, School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Lund
Abstract: 
This paper provides evidence on the causal relationship between education and poverty. I construct a novel database comprising compulsory schooling reforms in 32 European countries and use them as instruments for education. I find economically large poverty-reducing effects of education among people aged 30 to 80. This holds true for both objective measures of poverty (relative income poverty, lack of basic necessities, weak labor market attachment) and a subjective measure of poverty (self-assessed difficulties in making ends meet). An additional year of education thus reduces not only the likelihood of being classified as living in poverty but also the likelihood of considering oneself to live in poverty. Increases in labor force participation and full-time employment as well as better health are potential mechanisms behind these results.
Subjects: 
poverty
education
compulsory schooling
social exclusion
JEL: 
I24
I26
I32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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