Downloads
Despite the relatively uncontested importance of promoting school attendance in the policy arena, little evidence exists on the causal effect of school absence on long-run socio-economic outcomes. We address this question by combining historical and administrative records for cohorts of Swedish individuals born in the 1930s. We find that absence significantly reduces contemporaneous academic performance, final educational attainment and labor income throughout the life-cycle. The findings are consistent with a dynamic model of human capital formation, whereby absence causes small immediate learning losses which cumulate to larger human capital losses over time and lead to worse labor market performance.
Authors
Associate Director
Sarah is an Associate Director in the Education and Skills sector at the IFS, holding a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Martin Karlsson
Daniel A. Kamhöfer
Therese Nilsson
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2021.621
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
Suggested citation
Cattan, S et al. (2021). The short- and long-term effects of student absence: evidence from Sweden. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/short-and-long-term-effects-student-absence-evidence-sweden-0 (accessed: 24 April 2024).
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away
15 April 2024
Should the government levy VAT on private school fees?
9 November 2023
Behind the numbers: reassessing investment in skills and training
12 October 2023
Policy analysis
The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes
9 April 2024
Sure Start greatly improved disadvantaged children’s GCSE results
9 April 2024
What you need to know about the new childcare entitlements
28 March 2024
Academic research
Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages
15 April 2024
Social skills and the individual wage growth of less educated workers
27 March 2024
The menopause "penalty"
18 March 2024