ifo Schnelldienst 09/2020: Generation without a Future?

School Closures, Lack of Apprenticeships, No Jobs: Generation without a Future?

To slow down the spread of the coronavirus, schools and daycare centers throughout Germany were closed in mid-March 2020. Final exams were suspended, children and young people started homeschooling, and parents were asked to take over the role of teachers. What will be the impact of the schools’ closure, which will last several months? Can homeschooling replace classroom instruction, or will the lack of school instruction have a lasting negative impact on the development of skills and the future educational and labor market success of those affected? Will “learning at home” further exacerbate the problems of educational equity in Germany? The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are also leaving a clear mark on the German training market: not only is the number of training places declining, but also the number of applicants. Is there a threat of a “coronavirus generation” that is economically and socially disconnected?

With contributions from

• Silke Anger and Malte Sandner, The Effects of the Coronavirus Crisis on the Employment Opportunities for Classes Graduating High School
• Alexander M. Danzer, Effects of School Closures on Children with a Migration Background
• Axel Plünnecke, Digitalization in Education as an Opportunity
• Olaf Köller, Effects of School Closures on Digitalization in Education
• Enzo Weber, Coronavirus, Structural Change, and the Labor Market
• Samuel Mühlemann, Harald Pfeifer, and Bernhard Wittek, Effects of the Coronavirus Crisis on the Training Place Market: What Politics Can Do
• Hans Peter Wollseifer, Craft Trades Offer a Place for Every Young Person