What is the gain from education? A close-up look at the evolution of wages over 20 years at the start of the working life

Since the 1980s, all OECD countries have seen significant increases in the share of their populations completing their education with a higher education qualification. This drive to raise education levels is intended to help national economies deal with rapid changes. While it is still too early to assess the scale of the effects of these changes over the long term, we can legitimately seek to investigate them over the short term, and particularly their impact on the groups first affected, namely young people embarking on their working lives.