As a result, many young women end up in relatively low-skilled and poorly paid occupations with little prospect of upward mobility. Improved access will help increase the employability of young women. It must be supplemented by vocational guidance better suited to their capabilities and needs, as well as by gender-sensitive counselling and placement services to enable young women to fulfil their potential. Evaluations of training programmes show that they have had limited success in raising incomes and job offers for young unemployed people. This is not surprising.
Poor skills are only one of a myriad of factors leading to youth unemployment.
Labour market policies for young workers need therefore to include training as part of an integrated and targeted package. Targeted programmes that combine work experience with classroom training and job search and career counselling can also be effective for many unemployed young people who require help in attaining the social skills and work habits needed to obtain decent work. Such schemes seem particularly effective in economies where a demand exists for low or semi-skilled workers and where economic growth is relatively high. This has been the situation in recent years in a number of industrializing countries of Asia and Latin America. Effective youth enterprise programmes should address key elements necessary in creating and sustaining new viable enterprises, including adequate funding, skills training, business expansion support, creation of support networks, business counselling and mentor support.