Degree Holders Keep Jobs - OECD

A report from an influential development organization has revealed that those with degrees were more likely to keep their jobs during the financial crisis.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a report on Tuesday into education that people with university degrees had suffered far fewer job losses during the global economic crisis than those who left school without qualifications.

According to the latest edition of the OECD’s annual Education at a Glance, good education and skills were "crucial" to improving a person’s economic and social prospects.

“The cost to individuals and society of young people leaving school without a qualification keeps rising,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “We must avoid the risk of a lost generation by all means. Despite strained public budgets, governments must keep up their investment to maintain quality in education, especially for those most at risk.”

Unemployment rates among university graduates stood at 4.4% on average across OECD countries in 2009. But people who did not complete high school faced unemployment rates of 11.5%, up from 8.7% the year before.

"This adds to the huge problem of youth unemployment that today exceeds 17%."

Last week, it was revealed that the proportion of young people who get a degree in the UK now stands at 35%, less than half the level in the world’s leading nation, Finland.

In 2000, Britain was third in the league table of graduates but, by 2008, we had slipped to 15th behind countries such as Slovakia, Portugal, Poland and Ireland.

(DW/CD)