Tax reforms on international agenda can put 72 million children in school and plug global teacher shortage

The goals can be afforded with just a slice of new tax revenues, in line with governments’ existing commitments on budget share to education 

Proposals being discussed by governments to clamp down on global tax abuse and apply a small wealth tax on the richest 0.5% would raise enough tax revenue to provide the 72 million[1] primary school aged children around the world currently estimated to be out of school with an education and to hire the 13 million[2] primary teachers needed worldwide, according to a new study[3] published today by the Tax Justice Network at UNESCO’s Global Education Meeting[4]. 

These goals would be achieved with just a slice (20%) of the tax revenue that the proposals would raise, in line with governments’ existing commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals to designate 15% to 20% of their budgets to education.[5] 

The opportunity to solve the global education crisis, and finally ensure every young child’s right to an education is upheld, is possible due to the extreme levels of untaxed wealth amassed and at times hidden offshore by the very richest multinational corporations and individuals. 

Countries can raise an estimated US$2.1 trillion a year in tax revenue by applying a simplified version of Spain’s recent wealth tax at a rate of up to 3% wealth tax on the richest 0.5% households.[6] Ending global tax abuse would allow countries to hold on to US$480 billion a year in tax revenue.[7] Dedicating 20% of the sum of these additional revenues would mean countries would have an additional US$536 billion a year to spend on education. 

The study, co-funded by Education out Loud and the TaxEd Alliance, breaks down these figures at the country level and details how much additional tax revenue each country would gain and how many more students and teachers each country can put in schools. In total, hiring the 13 million[8] teachers UNESCO predicts will be needed worldwide by 2030 would cost US$12.8 billion, and paying for the 72 million[9] primary school aged children around the world currently estimated to be out-of-school by UNESCO to attend school would cost US$215 billion.  

At a total bill of $227.8 billion, this leaves a little over $300 billion for governments to put towards improving education services and meeting other educational targets, including increasing teachers’ wages and improving school resources and infrastructure. 

The study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that extreme, untaxed wealth among the superrich is making economies insecure and is directly linked to lower economic productivity[10]; to non-rich households having to spend more than they bring in[11]; and to poorer societal outcomes such as worse educational attainment,[12] shorter lifespans[13] and the unsustainable depletion of planetary resources.[14] 

The self-serving narrative that allowing the superrich to collect extreme levels of untaxed wealth would trickle down through greater investment, benefiting everyone, has proven to be false. Research shows that the rise of wealth among the richest 1% since the 1980’s resulted in dissaving among the rest of the population and in government deficits.[15]  

In contrast, under conservative assumptions, education accounts for 50% of global economic growth, 70% of income gains among the world’s poorest 20%, and 40% of extreme poverty reduction since 1980. It also explains over 50% of the reduction in gender labour income inequality.[16] UNESCO estimates if every child and young person were in school and learning, global GDP would be boosted by $6.5 trillion a year.[17] 

Global momentum to tackle tax havens and tax the extreme wealth of the superrich continued to gain steam this year. The G20 continues to consider proposals for taxing the super-rich internationally, while a growing number of countries explore the implementation of national wealth taxes (for which the UN tax committee has recently delivered a model law[18]). A global majority of countries agreed this summer terms and aims under which a game-changing UN tax convention would be negotiated.[19] A UN tax convention is seen as the world’s best shot at putting an end to the tax haven era, with a specific commitment already agreed to “addressing tax evasion and avoidance by high-net worth individuals and ensuring their effective taxation”.[20] The UN General Assembly is expected to vote later this month on whether to formally enter negotiations on the UN tax convention based on the terms agreed this summer. 

Meanwhile, the connection between tax policy and governments’ human rights obligations, such as the right of the child to an education under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has been gaining wide recognition in policy spheres. 

This year’s UNESCO Global Education Meeting – hosted by Brazil and bringing together governmental actors and the international education community to discuss strategies on meeting countries Sustainable Developmental Goals – is the first time that tax policy is officially on the event’s agenda for discussion. The UNESCO meeting overlaps with the G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting. 

Two separate UN human rights bodies – the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – recently called[21] on Ireland to take steps to ensure its tax policies do not violate its human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The calls were issued after the bodies were unsatisfied with the Irish government’s denial of the human rights impact of its tax policies. 

Ireland’s own human rights ombudsmen, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, stated to the UN on the matter, “we are concerned that Ireland’s tax policies facilitate corporate tax avoidance and profit-shifting from low-income countries…While the State denies that this occurs, the evidence underpinning this assertion is not sufficiently comprehensive and it does not align with the issues raised by Irish and international experts.”[22]  

The terms of reference adopted this summer for a future UN tax convention explicitly recognise that “the pursuit of international tax cooperation [should] be aligned with States’ obligations under international human rights law”.[23] 

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Ms. Farida Shaheed, who penned the study’s foreword, said: 

“The Tax Justice Network’s report demonstrates the potential additional revenue that could be generated through the implementation of progressive wealth tax policies and examines the impact of the staggering annual revenue losses due to tax abuse by multinational companies and wealthy individuals. We must seize these opportunities to press governments to honour their commitments to ensure that free, quality public education is guaranteed as a universal right, not a privilege for the few.” 

Carolina Rodrigues Finette, the study’s author and a researcher at the Tax Justice Network, said: 

“The tax choices our governments make shape what our societies look like. For decades, our governments have chosen to use tax policy as a tool to make the superrich even richer, thinking this would make our economies stronger. The data shows this hasn’t worked. Higher levels of extreme wealth made our economies insecure, and poorer than the sum of their parts. Governments must now choose differently, to use tax as a tool to protect the livelihoods and wellbeing of all members of society equally, not just the superrich. Reshaping our societies for a better tomorrow begins with choosing to protect the right of every child to an education today.” 

Grant Kasowanjete, the Global Coordinator of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), said: 

“There is a solution to the governments’ perennial problem of lack of budget for education – make wealthy individuals and multinationals pay their share of taxes and use those revenues for education. The Tax Justice Network’s report provides valuable evidence that strengthens GCE and the broader civil society’s advocacy for sustainable financing for quality public education for all through progressive tax policies and inclusive, effective international tax cooperation under the UN Tax Convention.” 

-ENDS- 

Read the report 

Notes to editors 

1. According to UNESCO, an estimated 72 million primary school aged children are currently out of school worldwide. Data can be found on the UNESCO Institute of Statistics ‘UIS Data Browser’ and viewed here.
2. According to UNESCO’s 2024 Global Report on Teachers, 13 million primary school teachers will be needed worldwide by 2030.
3. The Tax Justice Network’s new report, titled Stolen futures: The impacts of tax injustice on the Right to Education, is available here.
4. In line with the Education 2030 Framework for Action, UNESCO convenes periodic Global Education Meetings (GEMs) to review the SDG4-Education 2030 agenda against progress made. This year’s meeting is hosted by Brazil, and will feature an opening addresses from Brazilian President Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The session will also feature a debrief on the G20 process. The two-day event can be watched live online here. 
5. In 2015, countries committed to allocate at least 4 -6% of GDP and/or at least 15 -20% of total public expenditure to education under the UNESCO ‘Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All’. 
6. See the Tax Justice Network’s report on wealth tax here for more information on this analysis. 
7. See the Tax Justice Network’s State of Tax Justice 2023 for more information on how much tax each country loses annually to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals using tax havens to underpay tax. 
8. See note 1. 
9. See note 2. 
10. Research shows large rises in wealth among the 1% in the US over the past 40 years did not lead to more investments, and instead resulted in dissaving among non-rich households. Research also shows that “a large rise in inequality generates a saving glut of the rich, which can push an economy into a debt trap characterized by low interest rates, high debt levels, and output below potential”. Indebtedness of non-wealthy households brought on by extreme wealth of the richest households brings about lower productivity. Conversely, another study found that wealth taxes resulted in more investments. 
11. Research shows large rise in savings among the 1% in the US over the past 40 years brought on dissaving among non-rich households and governments. 
12. Wealth inequality has been shown to leads to worse and more unequal education outcomes. 
13. Wealth inequality has been shown to be sufficiently extreme that progressive wealth redistribution could add 2.2 years to the US population’s life expectancy as a whole. 
14. Research by Oxfam has documented the catastrophic climate impacts of the richest individuals in the world, showing that that the emissions of the world’s super-rich 1% are causing economic losses of trillions of dollars; contributing to huge crop losses; and leading to millions of excess deaths. 
15. See note 11.  
16. For more information, see the 2023 study, Distributional Growth Accounting: Education and the Reduction of Global Poverty, 1980-2019.
17. For more information, see UNESCO’s 2024 study, The price of inaction: the global private, fiscal and social costs of children and youth not learning.
18. More information on the UN model law agreed this year is available here.
19. More information on the UN vote held in August 2024 where the terms of reference were agreed is available here.
20. See Commitment 10b in the Terms of Reference.
21. More information on the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s call on Ireland is available here. More information on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is available here.
22. See the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission’s submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ consultation here.
23. See Principle 8c in the Terms of Reference. 

About Education Out Loud

Implemented by Oxfam IBIS and financed by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Education Out Loud supports civil society to become more active and influential in shaping education policy to better meet the needs of communities, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized. 

About the TaxEd Alliance

The TaxEd Alliance brings together in partnership global tax justice and education actors to make a transformative breakthrough in the domestic financing of public education. ActionAid, the Global Alliance on Tax Justice (and regional networks Tax Justice Network Africa and Tax and Fiscal Justice Asia), the Tax Justice Network, Education International and the wider Global Campaign for Education movement is creating a strong civil society alliance at national, regional and global levels to advocate for and bring about commitments to increase the domestic financing of public education systems in a sustainable and progressive way. This is critical especially tolower income governments in order that they can achieve the Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG4).

About the Global Campaign for Education

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a civil society movement that aims to end exclusion in education. Education is a basic human right, and our mission is to make sure that governments act now to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public education.