2019 people with master’s degree they earned, on average, about 22% more than young people who had just graduated. The information was taken from the White Paper More and Better Jobs for Young People. The value of salary in education, particularly for those with a degree, has diminished over time.
Read more: Bachelor’s and Master’s Opportunity in Germany: Scholarships up to 100%
In contrast, the salary share of young adults with a master’s degree has increased. This is indicated by the documentation, which is the result of a study carried out by the José Neves Foundation through the Youth Employment Observatory and the Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Portugal.
Evaluation of the professional with a master’s degree
“The wage premium for education clearly persists but has fallen, which in turn may reduce young people’s incentives to continue their education and training journeys,” the white paper points out.
In 2010, an adult aged 2534 with a bachelor’s degree earned, on average, about 95% more than another youth with only an elementary education and 59% of youth with an intermediate education. These percentages fell from 94% to 60% and from 59% to 42% in 2019.
On the other hand, the master’s degree has gained in value. In the same year, people with the title, even if they were the same age, earned on average more than 22% as graduates, up 12 points from 2010.
Also according to the white paper, the basic salary of a young master reached €1,617.16 in 2019, while the Salary for young graduates €1,326.76. The test person with only a secondary school certificate earned 934.44 euros, the test person with a primary school certificate 827.65 euros.
The White Paper survey shows that the average salary of young graduates fell by 14.5% between 2010 and 2019. On the other hand, the average of masters and doctors recorded a decrease of 5.1% and 5.6%.
Analyzing the youth market in Portugal, the book pointed out that employment suffers from low quality due to the economic crises, also affected by the Covid19 pandemic.