School closures will cost students thousands in future earnings

I've got a few friends and family with kids and I know the school closures have been making life tough for them and their kids but I guess someone's gone and done and economic forecast on the future damages to these kids and it doesn't look good.

finance.yahoo.com...

According to a new report from the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), there is a financial trade-off to school closures: thousands of dollars of lost earnings to children currently in primary and secondary school.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. last spring, schools and universities were forced to close their doors amid rising cases of the virus. As the pandemic dragged on, so did the closures; many schools across the country still haven’t invited children back into the classroom.

By the beginning of October those closures have cost students between $43,000 and $57,000 in their future earnings, depending on their grade. That’s between 4% and 5% of their future estimated earnings. Younger students, the report says, lose more than their older classmates. And as schools stay closed around the country, the costs continue to accumulate.

With roughly 56.4 million primary and secondary students in the United States the losses to future earnings are huge. Students from kindergarten through senior year of high school have already lost $2.8 trillion since schools closed in March. And if schools stay closed until the new year, another $2 trillion will be lost, PWBM estimates.

In that unlikely scenario, students would lose over $100,000 in future earnings. And if they stay closed through the 2020-2021 school year, children would lose nearly $200,000, taking off close to 15% of their projected future lifetime earnings.

The losses stem from what PWBM describes as “lower educational quality” as schools scramble to switch to a virtual learning model.

“School closures and virtual schooling can be costly to students and parents in terms of reduced learning outcomes, mental health and emotional costs, increased incidence of substance abuse and physical abuse, time and productivity costs to parents and care-givers, and other negative effects,” the PWBM report noted.

"Most educators, parents, and researchers agree that children are getting a lower level of education online than in the classroom,” the Penn report said. “Most teachers are unfamiliar with how to conduct classes online, which further lowers education quality. In addition, many educators report that student engagement in distance schooling has been low, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income families, single-parent households, and already low-achieving students.”

Seems like a great way into forcing the future generations into accepting some kind of UBI. Destroy their education, ruin their future earning potential, destroy the economy and what other choice do they have then to accept being a government slave for UBI money?

The kids are the future and this whole thing is heavily costing those kids and everybody's future.

originally posted by: dug88
The kids are the future and this whole thing is heavily costing those kids and everybody's future.

I think more importantly it's costing them the chance at socialization and interacting with their peers. The long term effects of this lost year(s) is yet to be felt both economically and mentally.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

And their immune systems will be barely able to handle a cold after being locked up and not exposed to any germs for years.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
And their immune systems will be barely able to handle a cold after being locked up and not exposed to any germs for years.

Face it, we screwed the pooch with this 'Vid hysteria.

Wow, pretty shocked to hear schools are still closed. They reopened on normal schedule in my town. I assumed most places did the same.

a reply to: TKDRL

My understanding is that mostly it's the college-level that is closed.

a reply to: TKDRL

Not sure how the whole country is handling it, but locally here they opened with full school but once a couple kids had a positive test result they immediately went to online school only.

Imagine if anytime a couple kids got the regular flu they shut down schools.

It's absurd.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
Imagine if anytime a couple kids got the regular flu they shut down schools.

They never shut my elementary school even if you had something highly contagious like measles or the clap.

Kids lost earnings? You mean parent's lost earnings... I've probably lost $100k in wages this summer.

My 6 year old is doing virtual learning through zoom. It has been tough trying to maintain productivity at work while also supervising my kid for 6 hours a day.

Because of regulations and the union, the school board has made this way more difficult than it needs to be. School for 1st graders could be two hours max. One hour of reading. One house of math. I could careless about anything else. Instead, they are trying to squeeze in art, PE, social studies, and all kinds other "soft" topics and the kids simply do not have attention span to do this remotely.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

And their immune systems will be barely able to handle a cold after being locked up and not exposed to any germs for years.

I don't know about your neighborhood but ours was busy with kids going all over this past summer. I'm not worried about their immunity. I am a little worried about their education but I think the bugs will get worked out in the short-term, not long-term.

originally posted by: jjkenobi
a reply to: TKDRL

Not sure how the whole country is handling it, but locally here they opened with full school but once a couple kids had a positive test result they immediately went to online school only.

Imagine if anytime a couple kids got the regular flu they shut down schools.

It's absurd.

Thats the problem. There will always be someone who tests postiive. However, it doesn't mean they are contagious. Sooner or later we have to accept that there will be some risks.

the data clearly shows there is no reason to shut schools down.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dug88
The kids are the future and this whole thing is heavily costing those kids and everybody's future.

I think more importantly it's costing them the chance at socialization and interacting with their peers. The long term effects of this lost year(s) is yet to be felt both economically and mentally.

Totally agree, and if mom and dad are OK with continuing keeping the rugrats home over a cold, they've GOT to let them loose outdoors to play with peers (be it neighbors, or coordinated "play dates", as stupid as the term is beyond the confines of the skull)

For the most part, our neighborhood didn't abide by squat. We hung out with our neighbors, some threw cook-out get-togethers, and we allowed the kids to roam free like it was a normal summer. Except it was all spring, summer and fall so far. The ramifications of keeping the kids isolated sent up huge red flags for us, it wasn't worth the isolation effort, just to lay the groundwork to turn them into growing basket cases that won't function well (or at all) in adulthood.

We did have a new family move in a few doors down right when all that crap kicked off and the lockdowns started. My kids and their kids were working on becoming pretty good new friends, to the point where they were sneaking out of the house just to chat with mine during the lockdown. It was pretty sad, but I think their parents eventually saw the BS for what it was because they finally relented & dropped the bubble wrap in late May.

Those two didn't handle the isolation well, even my kids say not letting them do anything outside or talk to anyone screwed them up. "Jenny's SUPER-CLINGY now, it's really annoying. She repeats herself a lot, and she cries way too easy over nothing. Her brother Billy is kind of the same, but without the crying. They didn't do this before, they act like, I dunno, the house burned down or something."
Abandonment issues, I'm literally watching abandonment issues crop up in real-time, in an 11 years old girl and 10 year old boy. People don't understand just how CRUCIAL socializing really is at that age. Even a few months of that kind of high stress & isolation can breed something that never goes away, it's still traumatizing to a kid.

our kids are going 2 days a week with parents home schooling the other 3 days. Which is super when you have a job to do, but have to home school a 1st year kindergarten student. Never mind the mental gymnastics you have to do to become a teacher along with whatever your current occupation is.

Yes, this entire thing has sucked from the start and our leaders seem to be getting stupider about it, rather than smarter.

originally posted by: Nyiah
For the most part, our neighborhood didn't abide by squat. We hung out with our neighbors, some threw cook-out get-togethers...

I like your approach, cookouts involving children, nothing better.

a reply to: Nyiah

Quite a few of the local pediatricians have been pushing for school to reopen.

Our community's problem is that it is uber liberal and all most of these people read around here is CNN or NYTs. They believe everything the media tells them. Good little liberal sheep. You cannot rationalize or have a logical discussion with these people. They are convinced if their little snowflake goes to school, they will die of COVID.

Here in Chicago, we've had exponentially more kids killed by guns than covid. More suicides. In fact, I don't know if there is a single covid related death of school age kid in this city. We've had a few kids die WITH covid but they were already in bad shape from other comorbidities like cancer, etc.

a reply to: dug88

I am happy that the school my kids attend gave the choice....mine started back in person on time. Havent had a single case in the school yet.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: dug88

I am happy that the school my kids attend gave the choice....mine started back in person on time. Havent had a single case in the school yet.

Wasn't Georgia the first state that gave DC the finger and did everything as minimally as possible, or opted not to do things, period? I wonder...and bet that had a huge influence in you guys not being the pandemic #show poster child in the end. As opposed to other places who went hog (like Michigan) for little to no noticeable gain.

originally posted by: Nyiah

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: dug88

I am happy that the school my kids attend gave the choice....mine started back in person on time. Havent had a single case in the school yet.

Wasn't Georgia the first state that gave DC the finger and did everything as minimally as possible, or opted not to do things, period? I wonder...and bet that had a huge influence in you guys not being the pandemic #show poster child in the end. As opposed to other places who went hog (like Michigan) for little to no noticeable gain.

We were. And I would bet other states are going to see a huge rise in other viruses that hit their populations.

I am very well versed in medical stuff because of my family and other business deals. I know what masks can and can't protect from. I also know how much money hospitals get from claiming Covid, etc.

Overall, covid is a nothing on the scale of viruses. If we look at the actual numbers of solely covid being the cause of death, it is nothing compared to anything else we have every year.

I would never put my kids lives in jeopardy. Because of this, my kids will have stronger immune systems and be better prepared for everything that comes their way.

The hysteria is like the Salem witch trials......

"Distance Learning" has been a total disaster for my son. The teachers are clearly not on the same page, and the Zoom meetings provide very little instruction time. We keep finding assignments he didn't know about and which are already late. It's difficult for him to focus because he's at home, not in anything like a normal class environment. He's working hard, but his grades are suffering badly, and I'm seriously concerned he might end up having to repeat this grade.

originally posted by: Nyiah

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: dug88

I am happy that the school my kids attend gave the choice....mine started back in person on time. Havent had a single case in the school yet.

Wasn't Georgia the first state that gave DC the finger and did everything as minimally as possible, or opted not to do things, period? I wonder...and bet that had a huge influence in you guys not being the pandemic #show poster child in the end. As opposed to other places who went hog (like Michigan) for little to no noticeable gain.

I feel I should also include that my kids do go to private school, so a lot had to do with parents saying we need to go back in person.