Latin America Skills for Youth Program

J-PAL’s Skills for Youth Program (SYP) will support the evaluation of new programs to address the mismatch between youth’s skills and labor market demands in Latin America. Today, 19.1 percent of Latin Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 are neither employed nor currently being educated or trained (NEET). On the other hand, more than one third of Latin American firms believe that a key factor constraining the region’s growth is the lack of adequate skills in the labor force. SYP aims to generate rigorous evidence addressing this mismatch.

Using the evidence generated through randomized evaluations, we aim to disseminate lessons learned and scale up what works. To accomplish this, SYP will fund three to seven randomized evaluations of innovative programs and then encourage policymakers to use this new evidence to inform their decisions.

Research Priorities

The Skills for Youth Program (SYP) aims to generate rigorous evidence on what programs work to increase or improve youth employment. SYP focuses exclusively on Latin America and the Caribbean (excluding Brazil).

We have conducted a literature review with the research priorities for the region. Ten identified open questions extracted from the review paper are:

• What is the optimal structure of job training programs? How long should youth remain in training programs to fully develop their skills? Is there an ideal combination of in-classroom training and on-the-job training?
• How can we teach students "soft" skills that will help them work in teams, proactively solve problems, and innovate in their future jobs?
• What can training programs offer youth and employers to help them assess the quality and relevance of the training participants receive?
• Why is demand for trainings low? What are the greatest barriers to participating in training programs and what are the most effective ways to address them?
• How can we improve the quality of what students learn in vocational training programs? How can we improve the content of these programs? Do we need to select or prepare instructors differently?
• How can targeting of youth employment programs be improved to identify youth who are likely to benefit from these programs? How can youth be informed about which options are best for them?
• What is the best way to provide targeted information to youth about existing training options and the labor market impacts of those programs?
• How can we connect educational institutions and potential employers to ensure that training provides adequate skills for the job market?
• Can helping youth navigate the transition to the labor force improve other aspects of their well-being, such as psychological and emotional well-being, health, and participation in criminal activities?
• Are young people's expectations and aspirations mismatched with the realities of the labor market? Can providing youth with information about the realities of the labor market help them to make better decisions?