Why is so Little Spent on Educating the Poo

WIDER Discussion Paper, 2001/29

Posted: 20 Nov 2014

Date Written: 2001

Abstract

If the poor are to benefit from economic growth, then they need the skills that are in growing demand, and the capacity to raise their productivity as smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs. Yet, the poor seldom receive a satisfactory education. Too little is spent on primary education — the category of education of most direct benefit to the poor — while on average public subsidies to secondary education are roughly three times as high as subsidies to primary education, and subsidies to tertiary education are thirty times as high. In consequence, the higher income deciles benefit disproportionately from public spending on education — the share of the richest income quintile (28%) is roughly double that of poorest income quintile (13%) across countries.

Keywords: Poverty, Income distribution, Education, Development

JEL Classification: H52, O15, D30

Suggested Citation

Addison, Tony and Rahman, Aminur, Why is so Little Spent on Educating the Poo (2001). WIDER Discussion Paper, 2001/29, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2528150

Tony Addison (Contact Author)

United Nations University ( email )

Katajanokanlaituri 6B
Helsinki, FIN-00160
Finland

Aminur Rahman

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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