Three broad facts about education have emerged from recent research. Firstly, almost universally education is found to lift people out of poverty. Secondly, when a comparison is made between investing in education and other forms of investment, the returns from investing in education are on average lower. Thirdly, the returns to education - in the sense of the increment in income that accrues to each year of education - are much higher for those with higher levels of education. What factors influence these trends?