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Did the Great Depression affect Educational Attainment in the US?

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  • khalid kisswani

    (Quinnipiac University)

Abstract

Great Depression is an example of a macroeconomic crisis that produced adverse economic and social effects in all spheres of life. Theoretical arguments about the real effects of the Great Depression on education vary. First is economic hardships, which might force individuals eligible to go to school to work instead. Second is that high unemployment would make going to school the best other viable alternative. Following these theoretical notions, this paper explores the impact of the Great Depression on education, on race (whites and blacks) and gender (males and females), during the period 1930-1940. Furthermore, I test the effects of state employment indices on education. The results (using 1960 census data) show some evidence that education of whites born between 1911 and 1915 was affected. However, there is no evidence that the variation in state employment indices affected the decision of schooling on the average (mean).

Suggested Citation

  • khalid kisswani, 2008. "Did the Great Depression affect Educational Attainment in the US?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(30), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-08i20013
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence Katz, 2003. "Mass Secondary Schooling and the State," NBER Working Papers 10075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Goldin, Claudia, 1998. "America's Graduation from High School: The Evolution and Spread of Secondary Schooling in the Twentieth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 345-374, June.
    3. Altonji, Joseph G, 1993. "The Demand for and Return to Education When Education Outcomes Are Uncertain," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 48-83, January.
    4. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Keueger, 1991. "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 979-1014.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard J. Paulsen, 2022. "Arts majors and the Great Recession: a cross-sectional analysis of educational choices and employment outcomes," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(4), pages 635-658, December.
    2. Moulton Jeremy Grant, 2017. "The Great Depression of Income: Historical Estimates of the Longer-Run Impact of Entering the Labor Market during a Recession," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-20, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Keywords: Great Depression;

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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