Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s

This paper examines the market for teachers in the UK from 1960 to the mid 1990s using graduate cohort data from 5 separate cohorts. The use of this data allows us to simulate the effect of possible teacher pay rises over time. We find that relative wages in teaching compared to alternative professions have a significant impact on the likelihood of graduates choosing to teach, although the impact depends upon the market situation at the time. The wage effect on the supply of teachers is strongest at times of low relative teachers’ wages, or following a period of decline in those wages. It is also strongest for those individuals who have more recently graduated. * Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics ** University of Newcastle-upon Tyne, Institute of Education, University of London and CEP, LSE