Higher-income households pay 18% more for private lessons
A study promoted by the Social Observatory of the "la Caixa" Foundation in collaboration with the European Foundation Society and Education concludes that this school reinforcement can amplify educational inequalities among families with fewer resources
Households reporting a more comfortable financial situation spend 18% more on private lessons than those struggling to make ends meet. This is one of the study's findings.Shadow education in the Iberian PeninsulaFrom the Social Observatory of the "la Caixa" Foundation.
The study reveals a gap both in the likelihood of attending private lessons and in the amount spent, depending on families' purchasing power. Thus, the percentage of students attending private lessons varies from 23.1% in households with more limited resources to 25.6% in households with greater resources. This means that, although a significant proportion of families with financial difficulties also resort to private tutoring, spending on this resource entails a higher opportunity cost, as it may lead to budget cuts in other areas.
A sample of 2,500 parents or guardians
This research, which aims to delve into the reasons for supplementing formal education with additional classes and their characteristics, was directed and developed by Juan Carlos Rodríguez, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and PhD in Sociology. Mercedes Esteban Villar, Vice President of the European Foundation for Society and Education, contributed to the results. Carvalho, Pedro Freitas, and Susana Peralta contributed to the results for Portugal, a country where this practice is also common among families. The "la Caixa" Foundation develops and implements, through programs such as CaixaProinfancia, a comprehensive social action model to improve the social and educational development opportunities of vulnerable children and adolescents, using tools such as educational support and school equipment. Similarly, through EduCaixa, it provides school management teams, teachers, and students with a wide range of resources to combat these inequalities. The nationwide survey, conducted in 2024, was administered online to a sample of 2,500 parents or guardians across the country with children aged 6 to 18 enrolled in primary, compulsory secondary, or post-compulsory education.
- A market that generates around 1.48 billion euros annually
Twenty-five percent of students aged 6 to 18 in Spain receive private tutoring outside the formal education system. In 2024, approximately 1.4 million students did so, dedicating an average of three hours per week to tutoring, with an average expenditure of €97. Mathematics was the subject that consumed the largest portion of the budget. While tutoring was primarily conducted in educational centers (53.3%) rather than at home (21.4%), English was the most requested subject (52.7%), followed by mathematics (40.2%), Spanish language (11.5%), physics (10.9%), and chemistry (8.4%). Sixty percent of classes were group lessons, compared to 25.3% individual lessons, which peaked in upper secondary education (35.6%). Individual lessons decreased to 13.2% in the first cycle of primary education. Difficulties in the subject (28.6%), limitations of families to help their children at home (24.9%) and students with special needs or behavioral problems (48.8%) are other determining factors.
From an economic point of view, the private tutoring market in Spain moves more than 148 million euros per month, that is, about 1,480 million euros per year.
Private tutoring, a factor in educational inequality
Given the potential impact of private tutoring on academic outcomes, research indicates that unequal access to this type of support can amplify pre-existing educational inequalities, as well as place greater financial pressure on low-income families, who may allocate a larger percentage of their resources compared to wealthier households. In fact, researchers highlight that previous evidence demonstrates that family income and parental education level play a significant role in children's academic performance. According to 2019 EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) data, in Spain, children whose parents have higher education have a 70% to 80% chance of also pursuing higher education. In contrast, this probability drops drastically, to below 30%, among children whose parents did not complete lower secondary education.