Summary

Some young men and women encounter difficulties entering and remaining in the labour market. The failure to find decent employment after leaving school tends to have lasting effects on occupational patterns and incomes over the life course of an individual. Yet policymakers often lack evidence-based analysis to explain: why finding and attaining decent employment is an elusive goal for many of today’s youth; why some youths are affected more than others; where the more disadvantaged youth are located; how disadvantages are manifested; and what the impact is on youth and on the long-term economic development of the country.

The School to Work Transition Survey (SWTS) is a survey instrument that generates relevant labour market information on young people aged 15 to 29 years, including longitudinal information on transitions within the labour market. It serves as a unique tool for demonstrating the increasingly tentative and indirect paths to decent and productive employment that today’s young women and men are facing. 

Objectives

The Work4Youth Project is a global project with research activities in 28 countries. The aim of this project is to gather information on the various challenges that influence young men and women while they are making the transition to working life. In particular, it aims to:

• Generate more and better Labour Market Information (LMI) on youth labour markets.
• Link LMI and policymaking to better manage transitions to the labour market.
• Enhance the capacities of national statistical institutions and Ministries on labour market analysis.
• Identify what works and attempt transferability between countries.
• Strengthen the ILO research agenda on youth employment.
• Directly influence government policymaking and programme development in the area of youth employment and skills development.

Activities

• Undertake a SWTS survey of youth aged 15-29 years twice between 2012 and 2015.
• Present and disseminate information in the form of a national report, “Labour market transitions of young men and women in Jordan”, and a global database.
• Synthesize the results from Jordan into a regional report and disseminate at a regional workshop attended by the implementing partners from each participating country in the region (Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia).
• Carry out national workshops following each round of surveys to discuss policy recommendations that will lead to the formulation or reformulation of youth employment policies and action plans.

Outcomes

• Constituents and relevant stakeholders at the country level apply evidence-based knowledge of the characteristics of the transitions to initiate national policy discussions.
• Constituents and other relevant stakeholders utilize regional and global analytical products based on updated youth employment data to shape further research and policy-making.