In this policy brief, Timothy Köhler, summarises key findings on the returns to education in South Africa over the period 2001 to 2023 from his paper titled “A Paradox of Progress: Rising Education and Unequal Labour Market Returns in Post-Apartheid South Africa”. South Africa has experienced a substantial increase in educational attainment during the post-apartheid period, leading to a large reduction in educational attainment inequality. Amongst other things, he finds that the strong, positive association between education and earnings has not only persisted but has become increasingly convex. The return to tertiary education has grown while the returns to primary and secondary education have shrunk. This work produced for the Covid-Generation project is discussed further in an Econ 3×3 article published in May 2025.
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