Employment Opportunities and High School Completion During the COVID-19 Recession

28 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2020

See all articles by Kunwon Ahn

Kunwon Ahn

Iowa State University

Jun Yeong Lee

Pusan National University - Department of Economics

John V. Winters

Iowa State University - Department of Economics

Abstract

COVID-19 created major disruptions for young people including health concerns, school closures, reduced social opportunities, and a wilting economy. We examine the effect of COVID-19 on high school completion in the United States. We find that high school completion rates increased considerably in 2020 compared to previous years. We investigate various mechanisms and find that worse employment conditions were the driving force. The lower opportunity costs of schooling because of the pandemic recession encouraged more young people to complete high school. The pandemic created extensive problems in education, but fortunately it did not reduce overall high school completion rates.

Keywords: education, employment, recession, COVID-19, human capital

JEL Classification: I2, J24

Suggested Citation

Ahn, Kunwon and Lee, Jun Yeong and Winters, John V., Employment Opportunities and High School Completion During the COVID-19 Recession. IZA Discussion Paper No. 13802, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3718182 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3718182

Kunwon Ahn

Iowa State University

Jun Yeong Lee

Pusan National University - Department of Economics ( email )

Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

John V. Winters (Contact Author)

Iowa State University - Department of Economics ( email )

260 Heady Hall
Ames, IA 50011
United States

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