Context and objectives

After worsening youth labour market outcomes in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, Spain made considerable progress in reducing its youth unemployment rates in the second half of the 2010s, which dropped from 48.3% for 15–24-year-olds at the end of 2015 to 32.5% in 2019. However, providing young people with stable and quality employment opportunities remained a challenge. The incidence of temporary employment among 15–24-year-olds was 68% in 2019; the highest rate in the OECD. These difficulties became more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the Spanish youth unemployment rate upwards again to 34.8% in 2021, compared to an OECD average of 12.8%.

In response to this situation, Spain approved the Youth Guarantee Plus (YG+) Plan 2021-2027 for decent work for young people, whose main objectives are: i) recover the quality of youth employment; ii) fight the youth employment gender gap; and iii) reduce youth unemployment. To achieve those objectives, the plan includes 69 measures grouped into six separate work streams, namely: i) orientation; ii) training; iii) employment opportunities; iv) equal access to employment opportunities; v) entrepreneurship; and vi) improvement of the institutional framework.

It is within this context that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provided technical support to the Spanish State Public Employment Service (Servicio de Empleo Público Estatal, SEPE), for the design of a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework for the YG+ plan. 

Based on this M&E framework, the OECD and the European Commission are supporting SEPE on implementing a mid-term evaluation of the YG+ Plan. The evaluation will be undertaken between 2023 and 2025, and it will measure the degree of implementation of the programme and any preliminary changes observed in the outcomes of interest across the Spanish regions.   

Outputs and activities

Phase I - Design of a Monitoring and Evaluation framework

• Programme’s documentation review and Key Informant Interviews with YG+ management team
• Delivery of a series of in-country, participatory Theory of Change workshops with regional representatives in charge of the implementation of YG+ Plan

• Design of a comprehensive set of indicators (both quantitative and qualitative) for the monitoring of outputs, intermediate outcomes, and outcomes detailed in the Theory of Change 
• Key Informant Interviews with data managers and IT staff of the YG+ team

Phase II -  Design and Implementation of a mid-term evaluation

• Desk-based research
• Workshop with SEPE, regional PES and other social actors to collect feedback on the proposed mid-term evaluation framework

• Design and implementation of quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Systematic mixed-methods analysis of the evidence gathered

• Proposal of recommendations to improve the implementation of the YG+ Plan
• Development of an Action Plan, detailing ways in which SEPE and other stakeholders could respond to the challenges identified and build on the successes achieved 

Relevance for other countries

This type of support could be relevant for other countries wishing to develop and implement a M&E framework for their youth policies. For instance, the OECD is currently working with the European Commission (DG-Reform) and the Irish and Italian authorities to collect evidence on the impact of youth policies, and assess and improve their monitoring system for youth policies and outcomes. This project is part of a broader effort by the OECD to help countries improve their youth policies.

Related work

- OECD work on Youth employment and social policies

- Impact Evaluations Framework for the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations

- Digital tool for PES counsellors in Spain

- Modernisation of the management of statistical and analytical information at the Spanish Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security