Equality of Opportunity

The topic of inequality in society is increasingly the focus of public debates. Apart from inequality of income and wealth, the topic also refers to missing equality of opportunity, which arises particularly in the education system. In fact, the association between educational achievement and socioeconomic background is particularly strong in Germany, indicating limited equality of opportunity for children from different social backgrounds.

On your mark, get set ... Kids starting a race
On your mark, get set ... Kids starting a race

At the same time, a decent education is a decisive factor for the economic prospects of each individual. Education is an investment which enables people to contribute productively to society. Therefore, acceptance of a free societal order depends on whether it enables people to profit from a free economy. For this, people must have reasonably equal starting opportunities when they begin to decide autonomously on their paths of life - irrespective of the societal status of their family. At that time, however, many courses are already set because of the covered educational paths.

Therefore, education policy - in particular the phase until the end of general schooling - has to enter the center stage of attention when aiming to create and sustain a societal order that is both free and humane. As an instrument to advance equality of starting opportunities, education policy becomes the central - and far too often neglected - pillar of a free societal order.

“As an instrument to create equal starting opportunities, education policy takes a central role in the social market economy.”

Prof. Dr. Ludger Wößmann, Director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education

Contact
Sonstiges Foto von Ludger Wößmann

Prof. Dr. Ludger Wößmann

Director of the ifo Center for the Economics of Education
Tel
+49(0)89/9224-1699
Fax
+49(0)89/907795-1699
Mail
woessmann@ifo.de