Active Labor Market Programs Improve Employment and Earnings of Young People

International Labour Organization (ILO), World Bank Group (WBG)
What is it?

A systematic review by the World Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO) combines results from evaluations of 220 youth-focused active labor market programs (ALMPs) conducted around the world since 1990.

To guide future program design, the report identifies features of ALMPs that are associated with positive impacts on youth.

HIGHLIGHTS

The findings indicate that:

  • ALMPs have significant positive impacts on youth employment and earnings.
  • ALMP impacts in Low- and Middle-income countries appear larger for younger and vulnerable groups
  • More recent programs report bigger impacts on average.
  • Key design features of effective programs include soft skills training and certification.
  • Globally, youth entrepreneurship and training programs show the largest impacts.
  • Local and regional programs often report better results than national programs.
  • The intervention types that work best vary by country income group.
  • While evidence remains limited, three in four cost-effectiveness studies find that benefits outweigh costs in the long run.

The authors:

  • Susana Puerto, Jonathan Stöterau, Michael Weber and Chiara Curcio

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