The Impact of the Support Offered to Young People under the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development. The Final Report

This report is the final report on the multi-annual evaluation entitled “Research on the effects of support implemented for young people under the Operational Program Knowledge Education Development (OP KED)” prepared by the consortium IBS, Imapp Consulting and IQS. It presents the evaluation of the support under the Priority Axis I OP KED, addressed to people in the NEET category, i.e. not in employment, education or training, in the age group 15-29. As part of this study, the analysis covered approx. 440 thousand of people who completed their participation in projects in 2015-2018.

The implementation of the support under Priority Axes I OP KED took place in period of systematic improvement of the situation on the labor market. Due to the good economic situation, the percentage of young people in the NEET category significantly decreased (from 16% in 2013 to 12% in 2018). However, this decline was almost exclusively because of a decrease in the percentage of the unemployed – the percentage of economically inactive remained relatively stable. As a result, the structure of the target group of OP KED projects has changed significantly – the share of the unemployed (including those registered in local labour offices – LLO) has decreased, and the proportion of the economically inactive, not looking for a job, has increased. A significant group among the economically inactive were women not working due to caring responsabilities (233 thousand) and people with disabilities (88 thousand). It is worth noting, however, that some economically inactive people (approx. 40%) would like to work, but due to various barriers they are not seeking employment.