Dropping out of an apprenticeship only hurts your career if you are from a poor family.
March 31, 2026
Original Paper
Stratified scars: social inequality in the labour market consequences of apprenticeship dropout
SocArXiv · zy6h5_v3
The Takeaway
Using a 'scarring' model, the study found that the financial penalty for quitting a professional track is entirely concentrated among disadvantaged individuals. Students from wealthy backgrounds have social buffers that allow them to quit without the 'scar' ever showing up in their future wages.
From the abstract
While the association between apprenticeship dropout and negative labour market consequences is well documented, the causal link and social stratification in this effect are less clear. Using georeferenced German administrative data and a conditional instrumental variable approach that exploits distance between place of residence and large firms, we find negative financial consequences but show that the dropout penalty is entirely concentrated among individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. We