Toward solutions for youth employment: A 2015 baseline report
The is a report (PDF) by Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE), a multistakeholder global coalition established to improve youth access to work opportunities. It is intended to set a baseline for youth employment trends, research and analysis, actions, and knowledge in line with S4YE’s agenda and comparative advantage. Part I of this report lays down a quantitative contextual baseline. Part II of this report sets an evidence and knowledge baseline to inform further research and programmatic strategy. Part III of this report includes an initial inclusion baseline for understanding, monitoring, and examining inclusion by first exploring gender, conflict and fragility, and spatial dynamics, and considering disability while recognizing that other minority groups or segments of youth also have distinct needs worthy of attention. The report highlights that agriculture remains the dominant source of youth employment. In rural areas, endless demand and rising crop and commodity prices create profitable opportunities for youth to engage in agriculture. However, land scarcity and weak or lacking land rights, are hindering youth from engaging in agriculture; and lack of access to loans and leases also prevent youth from obtaining their own land. At the same time, the concentration of people, business, government, and information creates distinct opportunities for urban youth. While there is no doubt economic dynamism afforded by the density in cities, young people may not be poised to capitalize on innovative and inclusive potential that this concentration can bring. These dynamics create disparities in labor market outcomes between urban and rural youth. More rigorous evaluations are needed to understand the impact of youth employment programs for both rural and urban young people. An important conclusion is that since most youth are active in either nonfarm employment or are self-employed in agriculture, stimulation of the agricultural market is critical for boosting youth unemployment in poor, rural areas.