The OECD Skills Outlook 2025 examines how countries can build the 21st-century skills needed to sustain growth and social progress. It explores how differences in background, education and opportunity shape who develops, uses and benefits from key skills such as literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving. Differential access to skills development limits the potential of many, thereby constraining economic performance. Socio-economic background strongly influences who builds skills that are valued in the labour market, whereas differences between men and women appear mainly in how skills are used and rewarded. As skill demands evolve faster than policy cycles, investing in lifelong learning and using timely labour-market intelligence are crucial to help people adapt, strengthen productivity and ensure that no one is left behind in a changing world.
Introduction
Background shapes 21st century skills
Information-processing skills, including literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving, remain unevenly distributed across populations in OECD countries. For example, adults whose parents attained tertiary education score, on average, about half a standard deviation higher in all three core skills than those whose parents did not.
Growing up in a city is also associated with stronger skills than being raised in villages, although much of this difference reflects differences between the two groups in socio-economic background. Differences between men and women are smaller and vary by skill: women have higher proficiency in literacy, while men have higher proficiency in numeracy and adaptive problem solving.
Skills also tend to differ by immigrant background, reflecting differences in learning opportunities and language exposure. Skill levels vary by age, peaking in young adulthood and declining thereafter. The size and direction of these differences vary across countries, reflecting diverse education systems, labour markets and social contexts.
How learning evolves across the life course
The types of training activities adults pursue differ according to workers’ socio-demographic background and their educational attainment. Women are more likely to engage in courses on communication, customer relations, reading and writing, or foreign languages, whereas men are over-represented in training on machinery operation, security, computer or software skills, and project management.
Adults whose parents obtained tertiary-qualifications are more likely to engage in training that strengthens transferable or high-value skills, such as project management, numeracy and foreign languages, whereas those without tertiary educated parents are more likely to participate in job-specific or compliance-oriented training, such as security or equipment operation.
Similarly, adults with tertiary education tend to focus on advanced digital, analytical and managerial skills, while those with lower qualifications are concentrated in more task-specific training. These differences influence career progression and the potential for reskilling and upskilling. The size and direction of these differences vary across countries.
Skills and labour market opportunities
Access to opportunities to develop skills is a key driver of socio-economic differences in labour market outcomes. Differences in education and skills between adults with an advantaged and disadvantaged background explain a large share of the wage gap between the two groups.
For example, adults with parents who completed a tertiary degree earn 11% more than individuals with parents who did not obtain tertiary level qualifications, but this difference falls to less than 1% when comparing adults in the two groups with similar educational attainment and skills.
By contrast, differences between men and women exist even when men and women with similar education and skills are compared. Among those who work for pay, women earn about 14% less per hour than men, and the gap widens to 17% among adults with comparable education and skills. The size of these differences, and the extent to which education and skills explain them, varies across OECD countries.
What can governments do?
Reducing skill gaps that emerge early in life is essential. Governments should invest in high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems, combining these with targeted measures for disadvantaged families. Integrated services, linking education with health for example, can strengthen outcomes for children and reduce the lasting effects of social and economic disadvantage.
Education systems must balance excellence, equity and labour market relevance. Funding formulas should consider existing skill gaps, while curricula must ensure proficiency in core 21st-century skills, including literacy, numeracy, problem solving and social-emotional learning.
Lifelong learning should be supported by flexible, data-driven skills strategies that adapt to evolving needs. Strong collaboration among governments, social partners, and learners is essential. Strategies should prioritise access for adults with low levels of specific skills proficiency, older workers, and those in precarious jobs, ensuring that time, cost, and information barriers do not prevent participation.
Adult training systems must address both access and quality. Current systems often favour those already advantaged by higher education, widening opportunity gaps. Governments can counter this through funding, rigorous accreditation, and accountability mechanisms for providers. Incentives can encourage firms to provide meaningful, career-enhancing training rather than narrow or compliance-oriented courses.
Skills systems should allow individuals to more easily move between vocational and academic routes, and between education and work. Investments in accessible and connected pathways, supported by modular credentials and recognition of prior learning, can foster both horizontal and vertical mobility. This flexibility helps maintain workforce adaptability and ensures that supply and demand for skills remain aligned as labour markets evolve.
Comprehensive, bias-free career guidance is key to empowering individuals to make informed learning and job choices. Governments can expand counselling in schools and public employment services and use digital tools to personalise support. These efforts can help people identify training opportunities, navigate transitions and challenge persistent stereotypes that limit career aspirations.
Governments can lead by example by integrating skills-based hiring into public sector recruitment and encouraging employers to do the same. Developing transparent frameworks for skills assessment, recognition and credential portability can promote job mobility and better use of talent. Combined with strong adult learning systems, skills-first practices can contribute to reducing shortages, boost innovation and make labour markets more dynamic.
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