What protests across Europe reveal about education and growth

Protests in European countries, including France, draw attention to the growing insecurity among the youth over their future economic prospects. How does the relationship between educational attainment and employment prospects help explain these protests? What does development economics say?

Alongside rising cost of living and affordable housing, concerns over education constituted a major theme of protests across various European countries in recent days. In France, young students are asking for better education facilities; in Greece, students and teachers are demanding higher state funding for education; in Spain and Portugal, students are demanding actions against a rising housing crisis, and German youths are raising their voice against "broken schools and austerity".

These protests highlight a broader concern: the growing insecurity among the youth over their future economic prospects. As a productive investment in human capital, education helps ensure individual earnings and social mobility, as well as drive overall economic growth. How does development economics help explain these protests?

Youth unemployment and education

The youth unemployment rate offers a context in which these protests are unfolding. The unemployment rate in the European Union (EU) was 6.1% in August 2026, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Youth unemployment remains a serious concern in several European countries, and the population with the least education is said to have dim employment prospects.

Hence, the relationship between educational attainment and employment prospects remains critical. Here, France offers a case in point. In October and November 2005, the death of two young men ignited a massive round of protests over youth unemployment. The protesters demanded jobs and social justice.

Sociologist Gerard Mauger, in reference to the 2005 protests, argued that by burning schools and libraries, the French youth symbolised that public schools failed them and deepened economic and social inequalities.

The French economist Thomas Piketty has called the current high school and student movement "the twilight of Marconism", marked by a 20% drop in the budget per student since 2017. In addition to inadequate funding, limited access to appropriate higher education forces many young people into "overcrowded and less expensive university programmes that are often entirely ill-suited to their needs and aspirations", argues Piketty in his column for Le Monde.

Qualified teachers, average salary, and class size further compound the situation, and the nature of these issues differs between poorer and wealthier areas. Moreover, the French school day is approximately 25% longer than the average for OECD countries.

Fall in budgetary share of education

France, however, is not alone. According to UNESCO data, around 14 European countries have seen a fall in the share of spending on education as a part of GDP from 2016 to 2022. The budget cuts have been justified as a result of sluggish economic growth and the rising cost of borrowing on international markets.

Neoliberal economic policies have largely been seen as contributing to a transformation of education from a public good into a commodity. For instance, French President Emmanuel Macron abolished the solidarity tax on wealth in 2018. In 2023, the rate of poverty in France reached 15.4%, while the number of homeless people doubled between 2017 and 2025 from 143,000 to 350,000.

Data suggests that the ability of social transfers to lift people away from poverty and destitution has significantly reduced in recent years. Therefore, the fall in budgetary share in education needs to be understood in the context of larger neoliberal economic policies.

The relationship between education and economic development can also be examined from different theoretical perspectives. According to human capital theory, for instance, education or years of schooling are an investment that yields future returns. Signalling theory, in contrast, states that the completion of an educational degree, rather than only years of schooling, communicates individuals' abilities to employment.

Educational foundation of economic growth

Economist Amartya Sen offers a broader understanding of development as an expansion of freedoms. From this perspective, education and health are important components of development. In terms of development patterns and trends, education has played an important role.

For instance, East Asian countries, like China, South Korea, and Japan, are often discussed for policies like modernisation of agriculture and export-oriented growth. But these countries have also devoted resources to education. It is illustrated by the example of Japan, as discussed by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen in their book, An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (2013).

During the period of the Meiji restoration (1868-1912), Japan's emphasis on the universalisation of schooling enabled it to achieve a higher level of literacy than Europe. Between 1906 and 1911, the share of education was more than 40% of the budget of the towns and villages and saw a rapid growth of elementary education. By 1910, Japan was almost fully literate. The country's experience also cautions against the assumption that modernisation and industrialisation need to precede mass education.

Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen note that the concentration on education ensured the nature as well as the speed of economic growth in Japan. India's experience, on the other hand, offers a contrasting perspective.

Unequal returns to education

In his book India's Economy: From Nehru to Modi (2022), economist Pulapre Balakrishnan notes that in the early years after the country's independence, public expenditure on education was focused more on higher education, particularly its technical segment. Primary education was not given sufficient focus, while illiteracy was not seen as a primary issue. Balakrishna argues that this was detrimental to India's growth story.

In addition, inequalities in access to quality education also played a role in the unequal distribution of income. Further, the association between education and empowerment may not always be linear. In Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1970), scholars Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron explain that the process of education may also reproduce and reinforce social class inequalities.

For example, empirical evidence from India suggests that improvement in education has increased the likelihood of entering the workforce. However, returns to education differ across gender, caste, and region. It is also seen that "better" quality schools are more expensive and social mobility depends on "better" quality education.

Need for an inclusive education policy

Socio-economic inequalities in access to education, thus, play an important role in shaping occupational and social mobility. When students in many European countries demand better-quality education, they are also demanding a better future. Climate change, economic stagnation and growing unemployment have further intensified anxieties about the future.

While sustained increases in public expenditure on education are an important policy response, structural inequalities in access to education cannot be ignored. Who can afford better-quality education? What kinds of jobs do people from different educational backgrounds enter? What returns do they receive from their education? Addressing these questions demands more equitable access to education, greater public investment, better remuneration and working conditions for teachers, and improved educational infrastructure.

However, educational reform alone cannot address the insecurity facing young people; governments also need to expand decent employment opportunities. Wealth inequality, the housing crisis, and rising poverty are interconnected with inequalities in access to quality education, shaping both educational opportunities and the prospects for social mobility. Thus, an inclusive education policy needs to be situated within a broader commitment to reducing socio-economic inequalities.

Post read questions

1. Recent student protests in Europe highlight concerns about the affordability and quality of education, unemployment and the cost of living. What do these protests reveal about the relationship between public policy and youth aspirations?

2. Examine the relationship between public investment in education, human capital formation and long-term economic growth. Why is equitable access to foundational education particularly important?

3. Discuss the significance of teacher quality, school infrastructure and equitable distribution of educational resources in improving learning outcomes in India.

4. Critically examine the view that treating education primarily as an individual investment in employability undermines its role as a public good and an instrument of social justice.

(Ritwika Patgiri is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Economics, South Asian University.)