Young people globally are almost three times more likely to be unemployed as are adults. They are also particularly vulnerable to insecure and poorly paid jobs. Emerging evidence on effective support options include:
- Entrepreneurship support and skills training tend to be more effective than other interventions, leading to notable benefits in some countries.
- Wage subsidies and job services have so far been largely ineffective.
- Digital technologies have great potential in delivering training and financial services to youth, as well as offering new job opportunities.
For more specific resources on labour markets and employment in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, please refer to the DCED knowledge page on Socioeconomic impacts and national responses.
DCED publication 
External publication
A Synthesis Note that summarises key research on how different private sector development approaches can assist young people.
Two-pager outlining the findings of three recent, systematic studies on youth employment globally.
Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020, ILO, 2020
Seven-page summary of the main ILO report on global trends around technology and the future of jobs for youth.
Ten focus areas for youth employment policies, INCLUDE, 2017
Based on systematic evidence reviews, INCLUDE has summarised 10 focus areas for policy makers in this two-page document.
- Youth and Employment Policies in Africa: Challenges, aspirations and opportunities, International Organisation of Employers, 2024
- Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020: Technology and the Future of Jobs, ILO, 2020
- Africa’s opportunity: reaping the early harvest of the demographic transition and ensuring no one is left behind, ODI/Save the Children, 2017
- Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, constraints and opportunities, Fox et al, 2016
Global evidence on ‘what works’
- The Youth Employment Evidence and Gap Map, Youth Futures Foundation, 2022
- Getting Africa’s youth working: Taking a systems approach to create more & better jobs for young people in sub-Saharan Africa, ILO/MCF 2020
- A stocktake of evidence on what works in youth employment programs, World Bank Group, 2019
- The evidence is in: how should youth employment programs in low income countries be designed? USAID, 2017
- A systematic review of training, entrepreneurship promotion, employment services and subsidised employment interventions for youth, Campbell Collaboration, 2017
- Rising to the youth employment challenge. New evidence on key policy issues, ILO, 2017
- Youth & transferable skills Evidence Gap Map, 3ie
General ‘how to’ guidelines
- Youth-sensitive value chain analysis and development: Guidelines for practitioners. FAO, 2022
- Integration: A New Approach to Youth Employment Programs. General Guidelines for Project Teams, The World Bank Group, 2018
- Guide to international labour standards and rights at work concerning young people, ILO, 2017
- Youth at Work: Building Economic Opportunities for Young People in Africa, MasterCard Foundation, 2015
- The Impact of Youth Training and Employment on Migration Dynamics in the Horn of Africa, Research and Evidence Facility, 2019
- Skills Training Programs (Review of Results), J-PAL, 2017
- TVET Interventions to Improve Employability and Employment of Young People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review, Campbell Systematic Reviews, Tripney et al., 2013
- Private sector development interventions and better-quality job creation for youth in Africa, INCLUDE Knowledge Platform, 2019
- Reducing search barriers for job seekers – brief evidence summary, J-PAL, 2018
- What works in wage subsidies for young people: A review of issues, theory, policies and evidence, ILO, 2015
- Guide on measuring decent jobs for youth: Monitoring, evaluation and learning in labour market programmes, ILO, 2018
- For more resources on measuring job creation in general, please refer to the DCED Employment Creation page.
- ILO’s What Works in Youth Employment website
- IDB’s Youth Employment Inventory (database of comparative information on youth employment interventions worldwide)
- ILO Youth Employment Programme
- The MasterCard Foundation Youth Learning
- ILO and The MasterCard Foundation Work4Youth
- SDC e&i network resources on vocational skills development
Photo credits: © ILO / Crozet M.