**Table 2: Distribution of Human Capital by Age Group**

|**Highest Degree**<br>**Completed**|**No Gade**|**Elementary**<br>**School**|**High School**|**Some College**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|15-24|9.8|27.7|48.7|13.8|
|25-34|8.4|21.1|45.3|25.3|
|35-44|11.1|26.2|40.8|21.9|
|45-54|14.9|28.9|34.1|22.2|
|55-64|22.8|29.7|22.5|25.0|
|**Philippines**|**11.0**|**25.5**|**42.4**|**21.0**|

_Source:_ Authors’ calculation based on LFS, 2003-2007

# **2. Education and Job Opportunities**

Job opportunities and wages are closely associated with education.<sup>3</sup> The best educated (with a university certificate) have the highest employment rate, followed by the least educated (with no elementary school certificate); the same is true for the employment rate (Table 3). The population with an elementary school certificate or high school certificate has the lowest employment rate. However, the unemployment rate is considerably higher for the better educated – over 9 percent for both with high school certificate and university certificate or above, compared to 3 percent for those with less than elementary education and 5 percent for those with only elementary education. The high unemployment rate among the best educated may to some extent reflect the frictions between supply and demand of high skilled labor and the relatively long time spent in job hunting of individuals in this group. The regional difference in labor performance, for example the low employment and high wage in NCR, may be closely associated with its higher share of better human capital.

**Table 3: Labor Market Performance Indicators by the Highest Grade Attained**

||Mean<br>**Particip**|**ation R**<br>% Cha|<br>**ate**<br>nge|Mean<br>**Employme**<br>**Worki**<br>**Popu**|**nt Rate**<br>**ng Age**<br>**lation)**<br>% Chan|**(to**<br>ge|Mean<br>**Unemplo**<br>**(to Partici**|**yment Rate**<br>**pation Rate)**<br>% Change|Mean<br>**Daily Earn**<br>**PH**|**ings (2**<br>**P)**<br>% Cha|**000**<br>nge|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|No grade|68.4|-0.26|*|66.6|-0.22||2.7|-0.04|106.09|-5.5|***|
|Elementary school|58.6|-1.49|*******|55.7|-1.32|***|4.9|-0.17|126.76|-8.2|***|
|High school|59.6|-2.01|*******|54.0|-2.18|***|9.4|0.57|176.47|-5.7|***|
|College|73.2|-3.88|*******|66.3|-2.22|***|9.3|-1.83|354.86|-9.5|***|
|**Philippines, 2003-**<br>**2007**|**62.4**|**-1.82**||**58.1**|**-1.76**||**6.**|**8**<br>**0.08**|**195.25**|**-4.3**||

_Note:_ Test statistics are shown for significance of change in each indicator in 2003 – 2007: *, **, and *** represent significance at 10 percent, 5 percent, and 1 percent, respectively. _Source:_ Authors’ calculation based on LFS, 2003-2007 The daily wage increases monotonically with education level. The wages of the better educated

> 3 The LFS report daily wage only of the employee at the private household, private establishment, government or government corporate and family-owned farm or business of their own household members. The self-employed, who often engage in the informal sector where the mean daily wage level is lower compared to that in the formal sector, may tend to show a particular pattern of personal characteristics.   In addition, LFS does not report on remittances. Due to the data constraint, unfortunately, we are unable to capture the effect of self-employment and remittances on income and employment.

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