Evaluation shows: Youth Colleges promote key preconditions for the labor market integration of young refugees

The Youth Colleges offer intensive educational programs focusing on German language learning, basic education, and labor market-relevant skills. The empirical findings show that the programs particularly target refugees with low prior education, significantly strengthening their educational capital as well as their German-speaking social networks. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that these factors significantly increase the likelihood of having a job or apprenticeship prospect.

The evaluation is based on a quantitative panel survey of participants in the Youth Colleges and College25+, as well as a control group, using a difference-in-differences design. The results emphasize the importance of social and educational capital for labor market integration and provide evidence for the effectiveness of intensive educational programs such as the Youth Colleges.

Author Julian Kettl emphasizes: "Our analysis shows that the Youth College was able to strengthen key prerequisites for the transition to the labor market. Intensive educational programs like the Youth College prepare young refugees with low educational levels particularly effectively for the labor market."

The study is available at the following link: Evaluation der Wiener Jugendcolleges und College25+: Wirkungen auf Bildung, soziale Netzwerke und Arbeitsmarktchancen - Endbericht - WU Vienna University of Economics and Business