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The impact of age within academic year on adult outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Claire Crawford

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies)

  • Lorraine Dearden

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London)

  • Ellen Greaves

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies)

Abstract
Children born at the end of the academic year have lower educational attainment, on average, than those born at the start of the academic year. Previous research has shown that the difference is most pronounced early in pupils’ school lives, but remains evident and statistically significant in high-stakes exams taken at the end of compulsory schooling. Those born later in the academic year are also significantly less likely to participate in post-compulsory education than those born at the start of the year. We provide the first evidence on whether these differences in childhood outcomes translate into differences in the probability of employment, occupation and earnings for adults in the UK. We also examine whether there are differences in broader measures of well-being such as self-perceived health and mental health. We find that the large and significant differences observed in educational attainment do not lead to pervasive differences in adulthood; those born towards the end of the academic year are more likely to experience unemployment (which is particularly true for females and those that don’t achieve a degree level qualification) but in general there are few substantial or statistically significant differences in terms of occupation, earnings and self-perceived health and mental health. It is not clear why this should be the case, but if employers reward productivity equally as they learn more about their workers, irrespective of their educational attainment, then this lack of significant differences may not be surprising.

Suggested Citation

  • Claire Crawford & Lorraine Dearden & Ellen Greaves, 2013. "The impact of age within academic year on adult outcomes," DoQSS Working Papers 13-05, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1305
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Luca Fumarco & Giambattista Rossi, 2015. "Relative Age Effect on Labor Market Outcomes for High Skilled Workers – Evidence from Soccer," Management Working Papers 9, Birkbeck Department of Management, revised Mar 2015.
    2. Fumarco, Luca & Vandromme, Alessandro & Halewyck, Levi & Moens, Eline & Baert, Stijn, 2021. "Does Relative Age Affect Speed and Quality of Transition from School to Work?," IZA Discussion Papers 14977, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Elliott Fan & Jin-Tan Liu & Yen-Chien Chen, 2017. "Is the Quarter of Birth Endogenous? New Evidence from Taiwan, the US, and Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(6), pages 1087-1124, December.
    4. Suziedelyte, Agne & Zhu, Anna, 2015. "Does early schooling narrow outcome gaps for advantaged and disadvantaged children?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 76-88.
    5. Nicodemo, Catia & Nicoletti, Cheti & Vidiella-Martin, Joaquim, 2024. "Starting School and ADHD: When Is It Time to Fly the Nest?," IZA Discussion Papers 17091, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Month of birth; wages; employment; educational attainment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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