Social Impact Investing

SOCIAL IMPACT INVESTMENT: BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE
Table 5.1: Although younger and older cohorts have experienced little change in unemployment risks, more
unemployed people are out of work for a year or more
Long-term
unemployment
(2013)
Unemployment (55 to 64
years, 2013)
Dropout rates
for youth aged
20-24 (2011)
NEET rates (2011)
Male Female 15-19 20-24
Australia 19.2 (4.4) 4.3 (0.6) 3.2 (0.3) 13.9 7.8 (1.4) 11.7 (1.0)
Canada 12.7 (4.9) 6.9 (-1.1) 5.8 (0.1) 8.3 7.7 (0.5) 14.6 (0.9)
France 40.4 (5.1) 7.5 (1.1) 6.5 (0.5) 14.5 7.1 (0.8) 20.3 (2.4)
Germany 44.7 (-0.8) 6.2 (-1.8) 5.3 (-2.8) 12.1 3.5 (-0.7) 12.6 (-2.7)
Italy 56.9 (12.5) 6.7 (2.9) 4.1 (1.4) 20.5 11.4 (1.2) 28.4 (5.8)
Japan 41.2 (12.7) 4.4 (-1.0) 2.8 (-0.5) … 10.1 (2.5) …
United Kingdom 36.3 (11.8) 5.4 (-0.5) 3.8 (0.9) 12.4 9.5 (-1.2) 19.1 (1.1)
United States 25.9 (9.7) 5.6 (-1.5) 5.0 (-1.0) 9.0 7.1 (0.8) 18.5 (2.3)
OECD countries 35.3 (11.6) 6.1 (-0.1) 5.0 (0.0) 15.0 8.2 (0.1) 18.5 (2.4)
Note: Employment figures are rates in given years, figures in parentheses record the difference in the rates compared to 5 years
previously. Dropout rates are for the share of 20-24 year-olds having left school and not holding an upper secondary degree.
Source: OECD dot.stat employment and education series, 2014c, OECD 2014d.
5.13 Educational dropout rates also represent a variable challenge across countries and a predictor of
hard-to-place inactive youth; preventing dropouts from education is realistic and measureable intervention
space for SII, with as many as 1 in 7 older youth not leaving school with only a lower-secondary.
Figure 5.2 maps the NEET rates for older youth to the dropout rates, and shows that in all cases, with the
exception of Australia, it is unlikely to be low education alone that inhibits the activity of youth as NEET
rates outstrip drop-out rates. In Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States the difference
might suggest an unmet demand for services to place qualified youth into work.
Figure 5.2 Australia has the most success in activating low skilled youth
Note: Both series are for 2011. Data for Japan are missing. Dropout rates are for the share of 20-24 year-olds having left school and
not holding an upper secondary degree.
Source: OECD dot.stat education series, 2014c, OECD 2014d.
5.14 In the area of employment support, a number of countries are encouraging SII through the
introduction of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), including one to reduce youth unemployment in the United
Kingdom, see Chapter 5 for details.
© OECD 2015 61