NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Youth employment has important implications for future economic growth, development, and stability. Globally, youth are unemployed at a rate three times higher than that of adults, with some countries facing even more acute youth underemployment crises.¹ How can we effectively create employment opportunities for young people?

Please join IPA for a webinar titled From Research to Policy in Youth Employment: Rigorous Evidence from Randomized Evaluations, the first in a three-part webinar series on rigorous evidence in education, from preparing young adults for the workforce to early childhood education to school management.

This first webinar will cover examples of existing youth employment programs and provides insights into how they can be harnessed to improve employment opportunities. Laura Chioda (World Bank) and Paul Gertler (University of California, Berkeley) will highlight a leadership and entrepreneurship skill development program for secondary school students in Uganda and its impact on enrollment rates and graduates’ soft skills. Emily Beam (University of Vermont) will discuss the effect of a national employment bridging program in the Philippines on education outcomes, youth employability, and employment. Finally, Bruno Crépon (Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique) and Patrick Premand (World Bank) will show how a subsidized dual apprenticeship program leads to a net increase of apprenticeship positions for youths and firms, while increase youth earnings and productivity. Hermann Toualy (Bureau de Coordination des Programmes d’Emploi in Côte d’Ivoire) will provide insights on using evidence to inform policy in Côte d’Ivoire and Nathanael Goldberg (IPA) will host and moderate.

The presentations will be followed by a discussion and Q&A, where we will cover how the evidence can inform policy, particularly in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Time: 1:30-3 pm EST