Social Protection and Youth
This paper provides a narrative review of social protection policies for youth (ages 15–24) in low- and middle-income countries; assesses the state of the evidence on their impacts; and provides recommendations for policy and future research. It summarizes the findings by three groups of policies: transfers and scholarships, active labor market policies, and life skills programs. While social protection policies serve their primary purpose as safety nets, they do not have transformative effects for youth, overall. The paper highlights the tradeoffs that arise from using social protection programs to address particular market failures: many beneficiaries of popular programs are inframarginal. The impacts of social protection programs targeted to youth are likely to improve if there is higher human capital accumulation earlier in life and the programs account for age and gender, are of sufficient length and intensity, and are intentionally designed to address the underlying constraints and goals, including an understanding of important social norms in the settings in which they operate.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2024-07-01
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| Subjects: | SOCIAL PROTECTION, YOUTH, LIFE SKILLS, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL TRAINING, ADOLESCENT HEALTH, DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, SDG 8, PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS, SDG 16, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099233306282412835/IDU101c05ef1133c614f3f1938d1be17ad78b8b6 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41808 |
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| Summary: | This paper provides a narrative
review of social protection policies for youth (ages 15–24)
in low- and middle-income countries; assesses the state of
the evidence on their impacts; and provides recommendations
for policy and future research. It summarizes the findings
by three groups of policies: transfers and scholarships,
active labor market policies, and life skills programs.
While social protection policies serve their primary purpose
as safety nets, they do not have transformative effects for
youth, overall. The paper highlights the tradeoffs that
arise from using social protection programs to address
particular market failures: many beneficiaries of popular
programs are inframarginal. The impacts of social protection
programs targeted to youth are likely to improve if there is
higher human capital accumulation earlier in life and the
programs account for age and gender, are of sufficient
length and intensity, and are intentionally designed to
address the underlying constraints and goals, including an
understanding of important social norms in the settings in
which they operate. |
|---|