Impact of School Enrolment and Income Inequality on Labour Employment in Nigeria.

This study investigates the impact of school enrolment and income inequality on labour employment in Nigeria from 1999 to 2023, integrating government expenditure on education and gross domestic product (GDP) as moderating variables within an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework. Data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin and the World Development Indicators (WDI) were subjected to unit root, bounds cointegration, and diagnostic tests to ensure robustness. The long-run results reveal that increases in school enrolment and government expenditure on education significantly enhanced labour employment, affirming the critical role of human capital investment in driving workforce participation. Conversely, income inequality exerts a substantial negative effect labour employment, demonstrating that persistent disparities hinder inclusive labour market outcomes. GDP growth exhibited a positive and significant effect on employment, indicating that sustained economic expansion fosters job creation. The short-run dynamics show partial adjustment toward equilibrium, with education variables maintaining positive but smaller effects. The study concludes that education and equity are complementary levers for sustainable employment growth in Nigeria. It recommends targeted educational subsidies, vocational training, and inclusive fiscal policies to reduce inequality and align human capital development with labour market demands. More so, economic policies should focus on promoting labor-intensive sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing to ensure that economic growth translates into widespread job creation By linking education financing, income distribution, and employment outcomes, this research contributes fresh empirical evidence to the discourse on inclusive growth and labour sustainability in developing economies.