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Adult skills, labour market outcomes and social cohesion in Sweden

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  • Jon Pareliussen

Abstract

Over the 11 years since the first cycle of the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), Sweden improved its performance relative to the OECD average and was in 2023 among the top performers in the OECD. This deep-dive into the PIAAC results of Sweden systematically explores literacy, employment and earnings outcomes. There are no obvious signs that young cohorts scoring poorly in maths and reading in the PISA tests as 15-year-olds show weaker skills or labour market outcomes as young adults. Old cohorts are more skilled than 11 years ago, and more likely to be employed, even when controlling for their improved literacy. Immigrants continue to score lower than natives in the PIAAC tests but have improved their labour market outcomes since 2012. The value added of tertiary degrees in terms of literacy seems to have fallen. This is in part related to an increasing share of foreign-born students, but may also be related to tertiary education entry having become less selective. PIAAC evidence indicates that women self-select into motherhood based on both educational attainment and literacy. In Sweden, the educational gradient has lost importance, while a negative correlation to literacy skills has emerged.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Pareliussen, 2025. "Adult skills, labour market outcomes and social cohesion in Sweden," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1852, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1852-en
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    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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