YearUp Intensive Youth Sectoral Training Model
Urban young adults aged 18 to 24 without college degrees frequently experience persistent earnings gaps and lack access to high-paying professional career ladders. Structural barriers and limited professional networks prevent these youth from obtaining entry-level positions in expanding fields such as IT and financial services.
Picture this
YearUp functions as an intensive express engine for career entry. During the first six months, young adults complete full-time technical and professional communication training while receiving weekly financial stipends. In the second six months, participants enter full-time corporate internships with major employers, supported by social workers and professional mentors to navigate workplace challenges.
What the evidence says
By Year 3, participant annual earnings grew by $7,011 (a 40% increase, p < 0.01), driven by a 33 percentage point gain in IT sector employment (37% vs. 4%, p < 0.01) and a 9 percentage point gain in financial services (23% vs. 14%, p < 0.01). By Year 5, quarterly earnings remained $1,857 higher (a 33.5% increase, p < 0.01), generating $1.66 in public benefit per $1 spent ($15,349 net benefit per participant).
- Who
- Human urban youth aged 18 to 24 participating across national site locations, screened via learning assessments, drug tests, and background checks [10, 15].
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluated by Fein et al. (2018, 2021) assessing participant employment, wage gains, and societal cost-effectiveness at 3-year and 5-year follow-ups [10, 15, 20].
What to do
Implement a dual-phase youth workforce intervention pairing six months of full-time occupational instruction with six-month corporate internships backed by weekly stipends and social worker case management.
From the source
"By the third year in the study period, YearUp participants saw their earnings increase by $7,011 (a 40 percent increase) overall."
Evidence-Review_Sectoral-Employment_2222022_0.pdf