Abstract
Education attainment will impact upon an individual’s capacity to engage in the labour force, their living standards and hence their poverty status. As such, education should be included in measures of poverty. However, it is not known what a sufficient level of education to have a decent standard of living is. Using the 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers different levels of education attainment were tested for their association with labour force participation and income. Based upon this, it was concluded that Year 12 or higher is a sufficient level of education attainment for 15 to 64 year olds; and Year 10 or higher for people over the age of 65 years. This is in line with current government policies to improve Year 12 completion rates. Knowing what a ‘sufficient level of education attainment’ is, allows education to be included in multidimensional measures of poverty that view education as a key dimension of disadvantage.
Highlights
Multiple international organizations highlight education as a basic right of citizens: the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, sees education as a basis for wellbeing in adulthood, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child speaks of the need for education in meeting children’s rights to develop “personality, talents and mental and physical abilities” (United Nations General Assembly 1989)
Knowing what a ‘sufficient level of education attainment’ is allows education to be included as a dimension of disadvantage in multidimensional measures of poverty
Education is cited as a key capability (Nussbaum 2003; Nussbaum 2006), and having low education attainment if often featured in rhetoric regarding multidimensional poverty measurement (United Nations Development Programme 2008; Social Inclusion Unit 2009; United Nations Development Programme 2010; Alkire and Foster 2011)
Summary
Multiple international organizations highlight education as a basic right of citizens: the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, sees education as a basis for wellbeing in adulthood, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child speaks of the need for education in meeting children’s rights to develop “personality, talents and mental and physical abilities” (United Nations General Assembly 1989). In addition to education being seen as a basic right of all individuals, education has been associated with a number of specific benefits These include lower crime levels (Lochner and Moretti 2004), and higher levels of civic engagement and participation (Brehm and Rahn 1997; Bynner and Egerton 2001), both of which are likely to contribute to better living standards for individuals and society. Education is a key capability that allows an individual to function in modern society and allows individuals to have choices about what sort of a life they may lead (Schultz 1962) It is well documented, for example, that those with higher levels of education are more likely to be employed and more likely to have higher incomes than those with lower levels of education (Kennedy and Hedley 2003; Breusch and Gray 2004; Wilkins 2004; Zhang, Zhao et al 2006; Laplagne, Glover et al 2007). Education is seen as an essential component of the wellbeing and living standards of individuals and a vital component for participation in modern society
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