They Got Mad Skills : The Effects of Training on Youth Employability and Resilience to the Ebola Shock

Rosas, Nina ; Acevedo, Maria Cecilia ; Zaldivar, Samantha

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: YOUTH EMPLOYMENT;    YOUTH SKILLS;    EBOLA;    TRAINING;    SOCIAL PROTECTION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8036
RP-ID  :  WPS8036

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper discusses a randomizedcontrol trial to measure the short-term impacts of a skillsintervention among urban youth in Sierra Leone at the onsetof the Ebola crisis. The intervention provided (i) technicalskills training, plus on-the-job training; (ii) businessskills training; and (iii) a mix of (i) and (ii). All groupsreceived stipends and literacy and numeracy training. Thefindings support evidence that combining cash injections andskills training can stimulate employment andentrepreneurship. The program boosted household consumptionand investments in housing and assets, thereby buildingresilience to the Ebola shock. The effects on cognitive andnoncognitive skills were positive and heterogeneous. Youthwith greater initial ability experienced more positive labormarket and entrepreneurship investment impacts. Youth withless initial ability upgraded skills more extensively,although they channeled benefits into more consumption.These findings emphasize the role of basic safety nets andshow that noncognitive tests may improve the targeting ofskills interventions in fragile contexts. The results alsoconfirm the age-malleability of noncognitive ability andsuggest that, in low-ability contexts, the sensitive yearsfor skill investments may reach into early adulthood.