The worldwide school closures in early 2020 led to losses in learning that will not easily be made up for even if schools quickly return to their prior performance levels. These losses will have lasting economic impacts both on the affected students and on each nation unless they are
effectively remediated, this is why we need to take action now. Our research suggests that the students in grades 1-12 affected by the closures might expect some 4 percent lower income over their entire lifetimes. For nations, the lower long-term growth related to such losses might yield an average of 2.5 percent lower annual GDP for the remainder of the century. These economic losses would grow if schools are unable to re-start quickly. The economic losses will be more deeply felt by disadvantaged students. All indications are that students whose families are less able to support out-of-school learning will face larger learning losses than their more advantaged peers, which in turn will translate into deeper losses of lifetime earnings.