Lifelong Learning, Labor Market Returns and Social Inequalities in Three European Countries

Daniela Vono de Vilhena, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Elina Kilpi-Jakonen, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg

This paper aims to map lifelong learning in terms of its determinants and labor market returns and how these relate back to social inequalities from a comparative perspective. Specifically, we will study the impact of formal adult education on the probability of getting out of unemployment. This will be done by analyzing the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden. The three countries chosen for this comparison represent different constellations of national institutions that are likely to affect lifelong learning. In order to analyse transitions to and from lifelong learning more fully, longitudinal data is used. For the UK, the data used is the British Household Panel Survey (now called Understanding Society); for Spain, the Catalonian Inequality Panel (Panel de Desigualtats de Catalunya); and for Sweden longitudinal register data.