Youth Employment Programs : An Evaluation of World Bank and International Finance Corporation Support

Independent Evaluation Group

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    ACCESS TO RESOURCES;    ACCOUNTABILITY;    ACTIVE LABOR;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-9794-7
RP-ID  :  74442

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Youth employment issues are a majorconcern for many countries because they have negativeeffects on the welfare of young people, and may alsoadversely affect economic performance and social stability.This is the first Independent Evaluation Group (IEG)evaluation of the World Bank Group's support tocountries trying to address youth employment issues. TheWorld Bank lending portfolio for youth employment isrelatively small, although components of programs appear in57 countries. Most projects include interventions in skillsdevelopment and school-to-work transition. Half of theprojects include interventions to foster job creation andwork opportunities for youth. International FinanceCorporation (IFC) has a broad approach to job creation.Between FY01 and FY11 youth employment has not beenspecifically targeted, except in the Middle East and NorthAfrica region and in a small number of other interventions.IFC invested $500 million to 50 investment operations and 18advisory services to education. Although youth employment isaddressed in the education, social protection, and laborstrategies, it is not recognized as an issue in most countrystrategies even where youth unemployment is serious. Youthemployment is a multisectoral issue, but few youthemployment projects are implemented by multisectoral teams.The evaluation makes two recommendations: (i) apply anevidence-based approach to youth employment operations, and(ii) at the country level, take a strategic approach toyouth employment by addressing the issue comprehensively,working across World Bank Group teams, with governments andother donors. There is a critical need to strengthenevidence-based feedback loops to the strategic planningprocess. Addressing youth employment issues is a majorconcern for many countries. It negatively affects thewelfare of young people and potentially the rest of theeconomy as well. Unemployed youth do not get a chance tobuild professional skills. As a result, they are more atrisk for higher adult unemployment, career downgrades andlower wages later in life, and a loss in lifetime earnings.The reasons for higher youth-to-adult unemployment ratesinclude labor demand and supply factors, as well asconstraints in the labor and credit markets. Their relativeimportance in a dynamic growth context varies acrosscountries. Recognizing these differences is important forgovernments in designing youth employment programs tailoredto the most affected youth groups, and to incorporating inprogram design specific interventions to address theunderlying causes of youth unemployment and underemployment.This evaluation was done to better understand thecontributions of the World Bank and IFC to these efforts,their effectiveness, and what can be learned from theexperience to support decision makers in finding new solutions.