Impact Evaluation: Program Jóvenes con Porvenir

Jóvenes con Porvenir is a public-funded program run by the government of Zapopan. This pioneering policy initiative was designed and implemented in response to the major social and economic challenges affecting young people. The program offers scholarships to young men and women not enrolled in school, so they can attend vocational training courses regardless of their employment status.

The impact evaluation aims to estimate the effect of the program in different aspects of the beneficiaries' professional and personal lives. More specifically, we evaluate the impact of the program on participants' employment and educational outcomes, access to professional networks, and weakening of social bonds to gang groups. In addition, we evaluate whether the program changed students' expectations of the future.

We estimate heterogeneous effects of the program across gender, age, and levels of marginalization. The evaluation also includes an analysis of graduation and reenrollment rates, as well as an assessment of beneficiaries' experiences in the program. Finally, the study provides feedback on the design and implementation of the program for scaling-up purposes.