Each extra school year raises income by 9%, but attendance falls to 87.3%

While each year of schooling can boost future earnings by 9%, Paraguay faces a significant challenge as school attendance among older youth falls to 87.3%. This decline, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, contributes to a global learning poverty crisis where 70% of 10-year-olds could not comprehend a basic text by 2022.

The World Bank warns that these educational disruptions could cost this generation $21 trillion in lifetime earnings, a substantial increase from previous estimates. Strengthening educational systems is therefore not just a social imperative but also an economic one, as childhood and adolescent development directly impacts future productivity, employment, and income generation.

In Paraguay, overall school attendance rates are generally high, with 95.4% of individuals aged 5 to 17 enrolled. However, significant disparities emerge with age and between urban and rural areas. Attendance is highest among younger children (97.3% for ages 5-9) and peaks at 98.0% for the 10-14 age group.

The situation shifts dramatically for adolescents aged 15 to 17. In this group, attendance drops to 87.3%, a nearly 11-percentage-point decrease from the younger cohort. Consequently, 12.7% of these older adolescents, approximately 38,040 individuals, are not attending educational institutions, representing a substantial portion of the 63,099 young people outside the formal education system in Paraguay.