Although the provision of formal vocational education and training (VET) can extend from lower secondary to short-cycle tertiary level, more than two-thirds of VET students are enrolled at upper secondary level. In some countries, where vocational education is more common, adults with VET qualifications enjoy high employment rates. However, the employment advantage of a vocational qualification tends to weaken over the life-course. On average across OECD countries, the employment rate of 25-34 year-old adults with an upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary vocational qualification (82%) is similar to that among 45-54 year-olds (83%), whereas employment increases from 73% to 80% among those with a general qualification. In contrast, the employment advantage for tertiary-educated adults widens among older age groups. Earnings are also lower: while adults with an upper secondary vocational qualification have similar earnings to those with a general one, they earn 34% less than tertiary-educated adults on average across OECD countries. Poorer labour-market prospects may have contributed to the decline in the share of adults with an upper secondary vocational qualification across the generations: 21% of 25-34 year-olds held such a qualification in 2019 compared to 26% of 45-54 year-olds on average. In contrast, the share of tertiary-educated adults has risen from 35% among the older generation to 45% among young adults.