21 percent without professional qualifications
Level of education in Germany is falling
06/29/2023, 11:37 am
A study by the German Economic Institute shows that the proportion of people without completed vocational training is increasing – and will probably continue to increase. The proportion of those who achieve a lower level of education than their parents is growing.
The educational level of people in Germany has fallen in recent years. One indication is the increasing proportion of people without completed vocational training, as the “Handelsblatt” reported, citing a study by the employer-related Institute of German Economics (IW). While by 2014 the proportion of people without vocational training among 25 to 64 year olds had fallen to just 16 percent, by 2022 it had risen again to more than 21 percent.
A further increase is to be expected in the coming years. Various school tests, including the igloo study on the reading skills of fourth graders, recently showed that the proportion of students with serious learning deficits has increased. According to the study, this also reduces their chances of obtaining a professional qualification.
In general, a fifth of 25 to 35 year olds are better educated than their parents. However, there is a downward trend among 35 to 44-year-olds, whose level of education is usually final. The proportion of those who are better educated than their parents has fallen only slightly since 2000, from 22.5 to 21.8 percent. This is also related to the fact that the respective generation of parents is better educated and the children can hardly surpass them.
According to the IW study, however, the proportion of those who achieve a lower level of education than their parents has increased significantly. This proportion has quintupled within 20 years from a good 3 to more than 15 percent. Educational descents compared to their parents are also more common among men than among women.