In spring 2020, governments around the globe shut down schools to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. We argue that low-achieving students may be particularly affected by the lack of educator support during school closures. We collect detailed time-use information on students before and during the school closures in a survey of 1099 parents … Read more
COVID-19 and educational inequality: How school closures affect low- and high-achieving students
Students’ behavioural responses to a fallback option – Evidence from introducing interim degrees in German schools
This paper examines the outcome of a policy-change in Germany which was designed to ensure students who dropped out at a late stage still had an interim qualification. It finds the reform reduced the number who downgraded to lower-level educational tracks and also increased the number successfully completing higher-level tracks. The research uses data collected … Read more
The baby year parental leave reform in the GDR and its impact on children’s long-term life satisfaction
This paper finds that children who spend 12 months at home with their mother after being born become adults who are more satisfied with life than those who spend just 5 months at home or in childcare. The study analyses the effects of reforms in the former German Democratic Republic where, in 1976, mothers with … Read more