Follow-up Costs of Not Learning: What We Can Learn from Research on Coronavirus-Related School Closures

What effect will the school closures of several months due to the coronavirus pandemic have on the future development of the children and young people affected? Missing about one-third of a school year of learning is accompanied by an average drop in earned income of about 3–4 percent over a person’s entire working life. In addition, the lack of schooling reduces skills development and future success on the labor market. Education policy must therefore do everything in its power to ensure that all children and young people – whether or not they attend school – start to learn again immediately.