Skills deficits in developing countries and Youth marginalization in labour markets Skills deficits in developing countries and Youth marginalization in labour markets Rationale The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on skills development, emphasizing strategies that expand employment opportunities for marginalized young people. It will examine what types of skills development programmes are best equipped to support the development of economically dynamic and socially inclusive societies. The Report will aim to identify ways to address the chronic misalignment between the education system and labour market that is evident in many countries. It will identify the types of skills that employers are seeking (including basic literacy, transferrable skills, life skills, as well as specific vocational skills), and the types of training programmes needed to support these. It will assess the contribution of programmes that can help to extend the opportunities of marginalized young people, including ones beyond the education sector (for example apprenticeships, firm-based training, and second-chance programmes). Skills deficits in developing countries and Youth marginalization in labour markets project The research project will assess employers’ perceptions of deficits in education and skills among workers and it will explore the ways in which young people are disadvantaged in labour markets and how this relates to their educational status and other personal and household characteristics in 10 developing countries. The research work comprises two component. In the first component, by using data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, UCW will i) assess employers’ perceptions about whether a lack of education and skills among the workforce is a problem for their enterprise; ii) examine how these perceptions vary across sectors, firm size, and export orientation; iii) assess whether the perceived skill or education deficit is reflected in the educational profile of the work force, by cross-referencing the Enterprise Survey data with national educational data; and consider the relationship between the structure of production (e.g. in terms of whether high or low value-added sectors dominate the economy) in each country and the perceived skills and education deficits The second component of the research work aims at exploring the ways in which young people are disadvantaged in the labour markets and how this relates to their educational status and other personal and household characteristics, in ten developing countries. Specifically, by using labour force surveys and similar datasets, UCW will: i) examine the dimensions of youth disadvantage in labour markets, including unemployment, underemployment, inactivity, formality, concentration in certain sectors such as agriculture, and length of transition to work; ii) Look in detail at which groups of young people are most marginalized, using two key indicators of marginalization in labour markets: (a) not being in employment or education, (b) being employed but earning a wage below a relative ‘poverty wage’ line. These key indicators will be used to analyze marginalization by gender, rural/urban location, wealth quintile, and region, and if available, ethnicity, language, and religion; ii) Using regression and tables or charts, the relationship between education and labour market marginalization will be explored.