Economics Working Papers
Publication Date
10-19-2020
Number
20020
Abstract
COVID-19 created major disruptions for young people including health concerns, school closures, reduced social opportunities, and a wilting economy. We examine the effect of COVID-19 on high school completion in the United States. We find that high school completion rates increased considerably in 2020 compared to previous years. We investigate various mechanisms and find that worse employment conditions were the driving force. The lower opportunity costs of schooling because of the pandemic recession encouraged more young people to complete high school. The pandemic created extensive problems in education, but fortunately it did not reduce overall high school completion rates.
JEL Classification
I2, J2
Version History
Original Release Date: October 19, 2020
Departments
Department of Economics, Iowa State University
File Format
application/pdf
Length
26 pages
Recommended Citation
Ahn, Kunwon; Lee, Jun Yeong; and Winters, John V., "Employment Opportunities and High School Completion during the COVID-19 Recession" (2020). Economics Working Papers: Department of Economics, Iowa State University. 20020.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/econ_workingpapers/115
