The social benefits of education
In: The economics of education
For decades, the primary argument in justifying education has been based on its direct economic effects. Yet education also provides "social benefits" for individuals and society at large, including a better way of taking care of ourselves and consequently creating a better society to live in. Though difficult to quantify these social benefits, a more systematic analysis would improve our understanding of the full effects of education and provide a basis for considering related policies. To promote better understanding, the Office of Research of the United States Department of Education commissioned a series of papers on measuring these effects of education