Skills and labour market outcomes in Hungary: evidence from the PIAAC survey

Understanding the links between skills and labour market outcomes are vital not only to education and labour policy, but are subject to intense public debate as well. 

The OECD’s PIAAC survey (Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) provides an excellent opportunity for the comprehensive study of how numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills affect labour market outcomes. Apart from assessing the returns of these skills in terms of employment and wages, our research focused on these three areas:

 - comparing the skill levels of stay-at-home mothers, registered jobseekers and the Roma population to the employed population;

 - quantifying the effects of proficiency in a foreign language on wages;

- assessing the relationship between tasks at work and skill proficiency (skill mismatch) and the effect of tasks on wages.

The findings will hopefully help make public employment services (the offer of skills training programmes) better suited to the needs of their clients.

BI was commissioned by the National Vocational and Adult Education Office (NSZFH) to conduct this research.