The Economic impact of COVID-19 Learning Deficits: A Survey of the Literature

The paper summarises the literature on the economic impact of learning deficits resulting from the COVID-19 pandemics.

Highlights

• The paper reviews evidence on learning deficits due to COVID-19 economic impact.
• Studies from EU Member States show learning deficits of around one fifth of a school year in primary and secondary education
• The pandemic has increased inequality in educational achievement between students, schools, and countries
• Small productivity losses in the short term, but larger ones in the long term, peaking when affected students will have entered the labour market
• Literature associates a learning deficit of one fifth of a school year with a real GDP contraction of 0.1% - 1% by 2050.

Information and identifiers

Economic Brief 078. January 2024. Brussels. PDF 30 pp. Tab. Graph. Bibliogr. Free.

KC-BE-21-015-EN-N (online)
ISBN 978-92-76-29633-1 (online)
ISSN 2443-8030 (online)
doi:10.2765/953838 (online)

JEL classification: I21; I26; J24

Disclaimer

European Economy Economic Briefs are written by the staff of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs to inform discussion on economic policy and to stimulate debate. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of the European Commission.