Education and Earnings in Northern Ireland

Abstract

There is some evidence to suggest that participation rates in post compulsory education is higher in Northern Ireland (NI) than in Great Britain (GB) and yet the availability of places in higher education is lower than in GB so that a disproportionate number of students pursue higher education in GB rather than NI. However, it is difficult to infer this from looking simply at participation rates since this may be limited by capacity and the preparedness of individuals to study elsewhere. This research is to analyse the economic returns to education in Northern Ireland.This empirical investigation uses existing large-scale datasets to identify the relationship between education and earnings in NI. Education in NI is quite distinctive (probably more so than in Scotland) and yet there is little research that focuses on the specific issues in NI. The focus of the modelling is on: participation in post-compulsory education and the role of the capacity in NI, GB and the RoI; post Alevel participation, future employment, and future earnings; participation in higher education outside NI and the earnings of returnees vs. non-returnees; the choice between HE and FE; the incentives to participate in HE outside NI and the incentive to return to NI.