62 \ Global Youth Development Index and Report 2016 productive identity that marks the successful transition from youth to adulthood. Unemployment experienced at early ages is associated with discouragement, illness, stress and depression in later life, as well as with lower life expectancy.17 Difficulty in entering the labour market can lead to feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem, especially among those who are in the process of forming occupational identities.18 The World Bank’s World Development Report for 2011 and 2013 also suggest that unemployed youth may provide fertile ground for gangs, violent resistance movements and criminal activities. Without regular employment to provide structure to their daily lives, some youth can slide into disruptive or criminal activities.19 Unemployed youth may also exhibit weaker civic engagement and disrupt otherwise well-functioning collective governance. What drives youth unemployment? Among the leading causes of youth unemployment is the protracted global recession and financial crisis from which the world is still recovering. Young people are more vulnerable than older workers to economic shocks: they hold more temporary or nocontract jobs, and they are more likely to leave jobs in their search for a suitable career.20 The skills that young people have may not be appropriate or adequate for the jobs that do exist. An ILO survey in 2014 found that across 24 countries in Europe, between 25 per cent and 45 per cent of the employed are either over-qualified or under-qualified for their job.21 In a study of 27 low and middle-income countries worldwide, Sparreboom and Staneva (2014) found that only 47 per cent of employees were considered well matched.22 At the same time, young people too are feeling underprepared for work. Moreover, vocational training systems have traditionally focused on technical skills, whereas evidence is growing rapidly that other attributes, variously Notes 1 UN and World Bank 2015. 2 UNDESA 2016. 3 UN Population Fund 2015. 4 Bloom 2016. 5 Youthpolicy.org 2016. described as ‘soft’ or ‘non-cognitive’ skills, are increasingly important to employers.23 These dynamics are compounded by a number of other factors that keep young people from secure livelihoods. Young women may find it difficult to complete their education or work outside the home, bearing instead the burdens of early marriage and responsibility for childrearing. Young people who live in fragile or conflict-affected environments are likely to have fewer local opportunities for wage employment, and may have been forced to leave school early, and have experienced debilitating emotional or physical trauma, which can inhibit their ability to succeed in training or the workplace. What works to facilitate employment among young people? Sadly, there is little strong or consistent evidence of investments that work well to facilitate the transition to productive employment for all young people. The most consistent benefit appears to come from programmes that support entrepreneurship and self-employment. Vocational skills training will not by itself overcome the problem that there are few wage jobs available. While it may give an advantage to those who have received the training to obtain jobs, it will not increase the number of young people who find employment. In general, youth employment programmes are more successful in middle- and low-income countries than in high-income countries, possibly because they target the most vulnerable populations. These results also reinforce the finding that entrepreneurship programmes are more successful in low-income countries than among high-income countries. Finally, there is strong evidence that comprehensive programmes, which integrate multiple interventions, are more likely to succeed because they are better able to respond to the complex constraints facing young people in lowincome countries. 6 UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division 2015. 7 Butler 2014. 8 UN Conference on Small Island Developing States 2014. 9 Secretariat of the Pacific Community 2015. 10 UNICEF and SPC 2011: 5.