The Importance of Employment and Training Policies for Lifelong Learning among Low- and High-Skilled VET Graduates: Evidence from PIAAC Cycle 2

This working paper, part of Skills2Capabilities Work Package 6 (Task 6.5), investigates whether employment and training policies (ETP) help explain country disparities in lifelong learning (LLL) participation among vocational education and training (VET) graduates at the upper secondary level (ISCED 3). Using PIAAC Cycle 2 data from 23 OECD countries, we examine three policy domains—Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP), Strictness of Employment Protection (SEP), and Lifelong Guidance Legislation (LGL)—and analyse their associations with nonformal and informal LLL participation. We also assess whether these policies mitigate or reinforce differences in participation between individuals with high and low levels of adaptive problem solving (APS) and numeracy (NUM) skills. As such, it builds on the research of Unterweger & Markowitsch (2024) and Jacobs et al. (2025) that was delivered as part of Work Packages 2 and 6.

Examining direct relationships between policy domains and LLL, we find that higher ALMP training expenditure is associated with greater participation in both nonformal and informal LLL among VET graduates, while SEP and LGL show no clear overall effects. When considering heterogeneous relations by skill level, however, skill differences emerge as important. ALMP training expenditure is linked to higher nonformal LLL participation among higher-skilled graduates (NUM and APS), while SEP for regular contracts widens skill gaps for both skill types and SEP for temporary contracts does so for APS. LGL practitioner qualification requirements also increase nonformal participation among higher-skilled graduates.