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Evaluating active labour market programmes: Possibilities for youth employment in Indonesia and beyond

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2025

Rizki Anggara Open the ORCID record for Rizki Anggara [Opens in a new window]  and
Ilmiawan Auwalin Open the ORCID record for Ilmiawan Auwalin [Opens in a new window]
Rizki Anggara*
Affiliation:
BPS-Statistics of Prabumulih Municipality, Prabumulih, Indonesia
Ilmiawan Auwalin
Affiliation:
Airlangga University, Faculty of Economics and Business, Surabaya, Indonesia
*
Corresponding author: Rizki Anggara; Email: rizki.anggara@bps.go.id
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Abstract

The Indonesian government has implemented the Pre-Employment Card Programme in response to current employment challenges, including high unemployment and underemployment rates among the youth in Indonesia. This research aims to analyse the Programme’s impact on the labour market outcomes, especially involving the youth. The research employs propensity score matching to examine the Programme’s impact on the probability of securing employment and the work hours among the youth. The study involved participants who were unemployed and employed when enrolling in the programme. The results show that the programme was statistically significant in increasing the probability of employment among the unemployed participants. However, it was not statistically significant to increase the work hours of those employed during the enrolment. These findings provide an initial assessment of the programme’s effectiveness in addressing employment challenges faced by the youth in Indonesia.

Keywords

Active labour market policyPre-employment card programmeUnemploymentWorking hoursYouth
Type
Original Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , First View , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The University of New South Wales

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