What works promoting pathways to decent work

This report builds upon the finding of a previous research project and specifically from the conclusion that, while active labour market policies (ALMPs) are indeed able to improve workers’ labour market prospects, the success of such interventions hinges on their accessibility. In several cases, a critical missing piece seemed to be adequate income support, which appeared to be a prerequisite for workers in the region to participate fully in activation programmes. The report first provides a conceptual framework for the analysis of the effects that such policy combinations have on individual and aggregate labour market outcomes. An innovative country mapping of integrated approaches is then presented, together with the findings from a literature review and a global macroeconomic study. The analysis is complemented with evidence from impact evaluations of two programmes in Mauritius and Uruguay that have combined income support and active support in different and innovative ways. The results of the report indicate that once certain design and implementation features are taken into accounts, approaches exploiting the complementarity between ALMPs and income support are effective in improving the labour market perspectives of vulnerable workers while protecting them throughout working-life transitions.