Education, Skills, and Labor Market Outcomes in the United States and United Kingdom

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 78
  In Roundtable Session: Post-Graduation and Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract

This comparative study examined the relationship between educational attainment, non-cognitive skills and cognitive skills, and their influence on labor market outcomes in the U.S and UK, using the PIAAC survey of adult skills from OECD. Results showed that the U.S and UK differed in the way education, cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills influence prime-age workers’ wages. Non-cognitive skills exerted significant impact on labor market outcomes in the UK but not in the U.S. In contrast, literacy skills showed significant influence on wages in the U.S but not in the UK. The study also discussed the policy implications of the findings as they pertain to skills policy in formal education and informal training.

Author

• Kai Zhou, University at Albany - SUNY