Overview
- The joint investigation by the IAB and partner institutes, reported Tuesday, finds socially disadvantaged dropouts lose about 45% of income over the next ten years.
- Among disadvantaged youths, completers averaged €153,000 across ten years, while dropouts earned about €82,000.
- Youths from better‑off families who leave training reach similar long‑run incomes as graduates because they more often return to training through second‑chance routes.
- Across all dropouts who left for another attractive option, average ten‑year earnings were about half those of comparable graduates.
- Researchers drew on records for about 650,000 apprentices and reviewed only cases who switched training or took jobs that did not require the credential.