Young people who have not completed their studies are often more vulnerable to unemployment and economic hardship. This correlation is visible across most countries in the world and is notably evident in Costa Rica, where nearly one third of young people were unemployed in 2022 (31%), amounting to approximately 104 000 young people. Young people residing outside the Greater Metropolitan Area face the greatest difficulty. In these regions poverty rates are higher, access to formal education is limited, and employment opportunities are scarce. To address the needs of vulnerable populations and improve their quality of life, Costa Rica established the National Employment Programme (PRONAE) in 2000. This initiative targets unemployed or underemployed individuals facing (extreme) poverty by providing conditional temporary economic aid and supplementary support services.
National Employment Programme – Costa Rica
Abstract
PRONAE consists of five components: Productive Ideas, Training, Community Work, Community Work in Indigenous Territories, and Employment. The Employment component (Empléate) is the only component that specifically targets young people. It was integrated into the programme in 2012. Empléate facilitates the integration of young people in vulnerable situations into the labour market through comprehensive training and employment initiatives. Empléate encompasses three sub-components: Advancing More, For Me, and Inclusive Employment. The components target young people aged between 17 and 24 years (and up to 35 years in the case of Inclusive Employment).
Empléate provides temporary financial support contingent upon participation in training activities that prepare young people in disadvantaged situations for employment. Individuals can receive a monthly subsidy of CRC 200 000, which can go up to CRC 340 000 for intensive training, with benefits lasting on average six months. For context, minimum wage in Costa Rica in 2023 was CRC 352 165. The “Advancing more” initiative promotes technical and vocational careers for young people with high school diplomas. The “For me” component instead focuses on young people who have not finished high school. Lastly, the “Inclusive Employment” provides similar support to young people with disabilities.
In 2023, PRONAE provided support to 9 268 individuals. An evaluation from 2018 showed that 59% of participants stated that their involvement in PRONAE projects contributed to securing temporary employment. The evaluation also noted that it is imperative for initiatives like PRONAE to prioritise gender equality, invest in employment creation, and enhance programme awareness to maximise impact. The component Empléate covered 5 611 individuals in 2023. According to the evaluation in 2018, it supported 34 879 individuals between 2015 and 2017. Empléate partially fulfils its objective of improving young people’s employability and it demonstrates a positive, albeit small and temporary impact on the economic and social conditions of participants. Although Empléate initially motivates young participants, this enthusiasm disappears if they fail to find employment. To address these challenges, programmes like Empléate should focus on aligning their trainings with labour market needs and ensuring enough support within remote areas across the country.
This practice also supports the implementation of provisions II.4, II.7 and III.1 of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People (OECD, 2022[1]).
Further reading
[2] Contreras Guzmán, J., M. Rojas Poveda and E. Montero Rojas (2018), Evaluación de Diseño del Programa Nacional de Empleo (PRONAE) Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, https://www.flacso.ac.cr/es/proyectos/investigacion/evaluacion-pronae.
[3] MTSS Costa Rica (2023), Diseño del plan-presupuesto de los programas y proyectos sociales que solicitan financiamiento del Fodesaf, https://fodesaf.go.cr/prog_soc_selectivos/programacion_anual/fichas_cronogramas/2023/Fichas/Ficha%20descriptiva%20PRONAE%202023.pdf.
[4] OECD (2024), Infra-annual labour statistics, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?lc=en&pg=0&fs[0]=Topic%2C1%7CEconomy%23ECO%23%7CShort-term%20economic%20statistics%23ECO_STS%23&fc=Topic&bp=true&snb=21&vw=tb&df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_LFS%40DF_IALFS_INDIC&df[ag]=OECD.SDD.TPS&df[vs]=1.0&pd (accessed on 6 November 2024).
[1] OECD (2022), Recommendation of the Council on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0474.
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