A Demographic Opportunity

Approximately two-thirds of Pakistan’s population of 180 million are under 30 years of age, and millions of young workers are expected to enter the job market every year over the next two decades. The nation stands to cash in on its demographic dividend – the increased prosperity offered by having a growing working-age population and a shrinking non-working-age population. However, only 3% of the population of Pakistan has had formal training in the skills necessary to meet employers' needs.  

Skills training programs are a promising way to bring more people into the workforce – particularly marginalized groups like the young, women, and the rural poor. But offering training programs isn't enough.  These programs fail to reach large numbers when their design is inconsistent with ingrained social norms.

Our Research

EPoD is collaborating with the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF), an initiative funded by the Government of Punjab and the British Department for International Development (DFID) to use rigorous research to design programs and policies to address obstacles to accessing vocational training and markets in Pakistan, particularly for marginalized groups. 

Policy Briefs and Case Studies

EPoD Case Study: "Vocational Skills Training in Punjab: the Success of Smart Policy Design"

Media

Article in VoxDev: "The Importance of Monitoring, Evaluating, and Corrective Feedback"
Photographs from our vocational training project in Punjab

Primary Investigators
Ali Cheema
Asim Khwaja
Farooq Naseer
Jacob Shapiro

This Research is Supported by the:
Department for International Development (DFID)
Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) program at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
British Asian Trust
Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University