Raising compulsory schooling age reduced the share of underage school leavers
As part of his doctoral thesis, Juho Junttila, EDUCA-Doc doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, has studied the effects of raising the compulsory schooling age, which came into effect in 2021.
The study utilized comprehensive register data covering the entire population, which enabled the examination of the activities of compulsory school-age children both in and outside of school. The study was conducted in collaboration with VATT Data Room.
According to the results, raising the compulsory schooling age reduced the share of underage school leavers by one-third. Secondary school graduation rates increased by 1.5 percentage points relative to older cohorts.
The compulsory schooling age was extended in December 2020. The law came into force in 2021 and was first applied to young people who graduated from elementary school in the spring of 2021. The aim of raising the compulsory education age is to ensure that every young person completes secondary education.