Arts and humanities grads not earning much more than unskilled workers in Denmark

Education does not necessarily equal renumeration

TheCopenhagenPost

Dec 3, 2015

Denmark spends billions of kroner every year on education. The conventional wisdom among politicians and in the labour market has always been that higher education is better for the individual and society – that education fosters growth and innovation and gives the graduate a stronger financial foundation.

However, recently-released figures now show that for certain groups of highly-educated workers, there is only a modest difference between their salary level and that of an unskilled worker.

Book smarts or on-the-job-training?
The analysis carried out by the think-tank Kraka for Finans showed that those with an arts education on average only make about 1,000 kroner more (before tax) per month than an unskilled worker.

The report also showed that a humanities graduate with a five-year university education often only earns 1,800 kroner a month more than someone who took an apprenticeship and vocational education in a trade.

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