Youth Employment Programs - Independent Evaluation Group

• Chapter Highlights• The Bank lending portfolio for youth employment is small and young. IFC has notspecifically targeted youth employment programs.• Higher youth-to-adult unemployment rates are determined by demand and supplyfactors, as well as by labor, asset, and credit market constraints. These factors varyacross countries and regions. Being aware of which factors drive youth employmentissues is important for governments in designing youth employment programs tailoredto those youth who are most adversely affected.• Broad policy interventions, such as promoting macroeconomic growth and foreigninvestment are necessary to promote employment, but they are not enough to addressthe situation of youth. As youth are worse off than adults, specific interventions foryouth are needed. Accordingly, the evaluation focuses on the investment climate,labor market, and skill building.The World Bank and IFC provide support for youth employment throughlending, investment, and analytical work. Evaluating the World Bank’sassistance to youth employment programs is challenging because employmentoutcomes are the result of actions across many sectors. The interventionsthat affect youth employment may not be “tagged” as youth interventions.Moreover, most Bank projects that can be easily categorized as targetingyouth employment are relatively recent and have not closed yet. IFC hasa broad approach for job creation. Many Bank Group activities in youthemployment are analytic and advisory in nature, but often aim to affectpolicy just as financial support does.These constraints on the evaluation have led to a methodological approachthat focuses on a subset of activities using a framework developed by theWorld Bank. It also means that a later evaluation on a more mature portfoliomay result in different findings. Nonetheless, the findings are timely andimportant as governments look for new approaches to improve the situationfor youth.The Evaluation Applies the Bank’s MILES FrameworkYouth employment outcomes are determined by the demand and supply oflabor and the functioning of markets and government institutions (Gustmanand Steinmeier 1988; Ryan 2001). Box 2.1 presents the Bank’s MILESframework for analyzing the labor market adapted to youth employment.Determinants of Youth EmploymentThe labor demand-side factors that affect youth employment are economicgrowth, structural changes in the economy, and employers’ preferences.12 Youth Employment Programs