Educational Opportunities Differ Markedly between Germany’s Federal States

The educational opportunities of children and young people in Germany differ significantly between the federal states, finds a new ifo study. An unfavorable family background has the least negative impact on children in Berlin and Brandenburg. Here, it is about half as likely (Berlin: 53.8 percent; Brandenburg: 52.8 percent) that a child from a disadvantaged background will attend a university-track high school – or Gymnasium – as a child from a comfortable background. Nationwide, the figure is 44.6 percent. At the lower end are Saxony with 40.1 percent and Bavaria with 38.1 percent. A rate of 100 percent would imply equal opportunities. “When it comes to children’s educational opportunities in Germany, the decisive factors are their parents’ education and income. But just how decisive varies from state to state,” says Ludger Wößmann, Director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education.

The study compares the probability of Gymnasium attendance for children from disadvantaged backgrounds (where neither parent graduated from a Gymnasium and the household is not in the top income quartile) with that for children from comfortable backgrounds (where at least one parent graduated from a Gymnasium and/or the household is in the top income quartile). Across Germany, 26.7 percent of children from disadvantaged backgrounds attend a Gymnasium, compared to 59.8 percent from comfortable backgrounds. 

Alternatively, the absolute difference between the two values can also be calculated. Here, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania tops the table with 26.4 percentage points, followed by Rhineland-Palatinate with 28.4 percentage points. At the bottom of the table are Saxony-Anhalt with 38.1 percentage points and Saxony with 40.1 percentage points. Here, a difference of zero would imply equal opportunities. The differences are statistically, educationally, and economically significant. In fact, people who graduated from a Gymnasium earn on average 42 percent more per month net than people who did not. 

“Thankfully, this huge disparity in educational opportunity is not irrevocable. Policy measures could provide targeted support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, ideally from an early age,” says Florian Schoner, coauthor of the study. Important starting points include targeted support for parents and schools in challenging situations, data-based language support, and mentoring programs. Finally, a move to delay the point at which children are divided into Gymnasium and non-Gymnasium schools could also change the unequal distribution of opportunities. “Interestingly, Berlin and Brandenburg are the only states in which children don’t start attending Gymnasium until seventh grade,” Wößmann adds. 

The data basis for the study is the 2018 and 2019 microcensus. This provides information on attendance at a university-track high school and family background for a sample of 102,005 children and adolescents ages 10 to 18. The samples range from 947 children in Bremen to 23,022 in North Rhine-Westphalia.