Where a person grows up has a lasting influence on their life chances, according to an OECD report released today which shows a rural-urban performance gap between students.
The share of 18-24 year-olds who are not in employment, education or training, differs by 13 percentage points between best- and worst-performing regions on average in OECD countries.
Students in rural areas consistently score lower on math tests and systematically underperform, compared to their urban peers.
Similarly, young people’s prospects for a successful school-to-work transition partly depend on their place of residence.
Much of this rural-urban performance gap can be attributed to differences in the socio-economic backgrounds of their families.
In a majority of countries, it contributes to over 60 percent of inequality of opportunity observed at household level, and in some cases over 75 percent.
People born in lower-income areas face persistent barriers to education, employment, and upward mobility, and are less likely to relocate due to greater social and financial constraints.
In some OECD countries, people living in deprived regions may be six-to-ten times more likely to be poor than peers living in more advantaged regions.
Geographic inequalities affect educational and labour market opportunities throughout life.
Finally, significant regional gaps remain in terms of access to health services, internet and public transport.
