The Role of Financial Services in Youth Education and Employment

One billion young people in low-income countries are navigating their transition into adulthood and engaging in various forms of education and employment along the way. Financial services can play an important role on this path, but they alone cannot deliver positive outcomes for youth. Comprehensive approaches that combine a range of financial and nonfinancial services with supportive family and social networks appear to be most effective.

This working paper provides a broad view on the role of financial services in this framework. It highlights key insights that will resonate with policy makers, funders, and financial and nonfinancial services providers who focus on youth education and employment and their enabling factors. It begins with an overview of youth financial inclusion and the surrounding context, focusing on the period of adolescence from 15 to 24 years old. This paper then examines the role that financial services can play in enabling youth education and employment, outlines the existing evidence base, and highlights future directions for both research and interventions.