Female long-term labour market outcomes: the role of early-life abilities and education

We study how early-life cognitive skills, non-cognitive abilities, and family characteristics influence educational choices and affect later employment outcomes and wages. The analysis was carried out on a cohort of UK females observed at different life stages by adopting the British National Child Development Study database. Our findings provide evidence of how early-life abilities and family characteristics affect both the educational attainment and later labour market outcomes of female workers. However, we found that educational levels interact with early-life abilities, productive characteristics in general, and other characteristics, giving rise to different employment outcomes and income prospects conditioned on educational attainment. Occupational outcomes and wages of low-educated women are more sensitive to factors that are not strictly linked to productivity.

Automated summary

The study reveals that educational choices and later employment outcomes of female workers are influenced by early-life cognitive skills, non-cognitive abilities, and family characteristics. The interaction between educational levels and early-life abilities, productive characteristics, and other factors lead to varied employment outcomes and income prospects for women conditioned on educational attainment.