Abstract:

Education is one of the most important drivers for growth, development and well-being. Therefore, investments in education are beneficial for individuals, companies and societies in long term. Most studies analyse the stock of education and its role in promoting social and economic development. However, distribution of education is another key issue that has effects, on the long run, both at individual and societal levels. Reducing educational inequalities represents a target for public policies in many countries. The current paper aims to examine both the stock and the distribution of education in Romania and to discuss how the post-communist reforms in the education system have influenced both of them. We build our analysis on census data regarding school attainment by age, gender and area of residence. The results of the analysis show that younger cohorts have higher access of education, while the level of educational inequality registers contradictory evolution for specific groups of individuals.

Keywords:

Education, educational inequalities.