Crises and Educational Attainment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Janas, Pawel
• 署名单位: California Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S002205072510106X
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: labor-market conditions; OPPORTUNITIES; unemployment; DEPRESSION; impacts; shocks

摘要

Between 1910 and 1940, U.S. high school graduation rates rose five-fold, driving twentieth-century economic growth. I explore how the Great Depression's surge in youth unemployment influenced this trend, emphasizing gender and socioeconomic disparities. Using linked census data and newly digitized city-level unemployment rates, I find that youth unemployment significantly increased high school and post-secondary completion among higher-income boys, while effects on girls and lower-income youths were negligible. These results underscore the role of household resources in leveraging educational opportunities, as financial constraints limited disadvantaged groups from benefiting from reduced opportunity costs.