Overview
- The Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe analyzed Nationales Bildungspanel data tracking individuals from birth to age 26, offering life‑course evidence of persistent social inequality in education.
- Early disparities appear in toddlerhood as lower-status children enter daycare later and less often (about 8% vs 20% at 15 months; 77% vs 87% at age three), alongside smaller vocabularies and weaker early numeracy.
- By the end of primary school, only about 12% of pupils from low social strata rank among top performers in mathematics compared with roughly 37–40% from high-status families.
- At comparable competencies, children from higher-status homes receive better grades and more Gymnasium recommendations, and such recommendations are accepted more frequently by affluent parents.
- By school-leaving, roughly one third of youths from low social backgrounds attain a university entrance qualification versus more than three quarters from high-status families, with gaps tied primarily to socioeconomic rather than migration factors.