The Gap Year: An Overview of the Issues

Jacob Greenspon

No 2017-01, CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract: Taking a gap year between high school and post-secondary education appears to be an increasingly popular phenomenon in popular culture, among well-known individuals and for Canadian youth. This report reviews the literature on issues related to gap years, with a focus on the Canadian context and the experiences of youth in several similar countries. Overall, taking a gap year appears to be a beneficial choice for many Canadian youth, although the impacts of a gap year are often dependent on the youth’s socioeconomic background and the activities they participate in during their gap year. Based on these findings in the literature, a number of options for public policy are proposed to improve knowledge of gap years, increase the take-up of gap years, and make gap years a more accessible option for disadvantaged segments of the population.

Keywords: Education; Academics; University; High School; Youth; Socioeconomic; Employment; Measurement; Canada; Gap Year (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J11 J18 Y (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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