Education is an asset not only because of its intrinsic value, but also because it provides individuals with skills and acts as a signal of such skills. As a result, investments in education yield high returns later in life (OECD, 2020[3]). Yet, there are differences across countries in educational attainment. On average across OECD countries, 40% of adults (25-64 year-olds) have a tertiary credential as their highest level of education, another 40% have attained upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education, while 20% have not obtained an upper secondary education (Table A1.1.). However, differences among OECD countries are large: more than 50% of adults in Costa Rica, Mexico and Türkiye lack an upper secondary qualification, while more than 60% of adults in Canada have a tertiary credential (Figure A1.2).

Analysing the status of 18-24 year-olds is particularly important, as young people usually complete upper secondary education around the ages of 17 to 19 (see Indicator B1). Across OECD countries, a little over half of 18-24 year-olds are still in formal education or training (54%), either full time or part-time. In Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia, over two-thirds of young people in this age group are enrolled in education (Table A2.1). However, a significant share of young children at the age of upper secondary education, may be out-of-school. The Sustainable Developement Goal (SDG) 4 agenda captures through SDG Indicator 4.1.4 the percentage of young people in the official age range for upper secondary education who are not enrolled in school (Box A2.1).

There continues to be a strong relationship between labour-market participation and educational attainment that holds whether participation is measured by employment, unemployment, or inactivity rates. This relationship exists in nearly all OECD and partner countries with available data. It is very rare to find a country where a subpopulation with lower educational attainment has higher labour-market participation rates than a subpopulation with higher educational attainment. On average across OECD countries, employment rates rise from about 60% for 25-34 year-olds without an upper secondary attainment to 86% for those with a tertiary qualification, while unemployment rates fall from 13% to 5% and inactivity rates from 31% to 9% (Table A3.2, Table A3.3 and Table A3.4).

Higher levels of educational attainment in general lead to greater earnings. Adults (25-64 year-olds) in OECD countries with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment working full-time and for the full year earn on average about one-quarter more than those without such qualifications. The difference is over 40% in Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Germany whereas in Finland, workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment earn almost the same as those with below upper secondary attainment (Table A4.4).

Civic engagement is part of democratic societies and education is a determinant of participation in civic activities (Hauser, 2000[6]). It is widely accepted that there is a positive relationship between educational attainment and civic engagement (Campbell, 2006[2]). Education can also influence citizens' perceptions of democracy in their countries. It shapes their democratic values and their views on democratic processes. The relationship between educational attainment and civic engagement may be influenced by the fact that in some countries higher educational attainment may be associated with high socio-economic status, and therefore civic engagement is related to socio-economic status rather than educational attainment (Campbell, 2006[2]). Increasing levels of education do not seem to affect individuals’ perceptions and attitudes towards democracy but they do seem to influence civic engagement. This relationship appears to be strongly influenced by individuals’ socio-economic status, particularly by income (Alemán and Kim, 2015[7]).

Adult learning often takes the form of non-formal education and training, rather than formal education, which dominates initial education and is more common among young people (OECD, 2022[3]). This is not surprising given that adult learning indicators cover those aged 25-64, when most people have already completed their formal studies. The analysis below will concentrate on non-formal education and training. Refer to the Definitions section for more information on the type of learning activities.