World Bank2012-12-062012-12-062012-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11924The biggest challenge in terms of jobs in Central America is to create better conditions to stimulate more productive job creation in the context of a rapidly growing labor force. Overcoming this challenge will contribute to reducing poverty, inequality and social exclusion which are so entrenched in the Central American countries. To achieve this goal, Central America needs to address a two-pronged policy. First, the region must implement policies that help farmers and workers to move up the value chain, which means in some cases diversify the production structure by increasing the share of industry and services, and in other cases, it should improve the technological content and knowledge of existing activities to make them more productive (for example, agriculture). The paper is organized as follows: Section II describes the origin of the recent growth of the region and its impact on the labor market. Section III discusses the challenges of human capital faced by the region, and Sections IV and V provide governments with policy options for consideration.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSENTEEISMACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO TERTIARY EDUCATIONACCREDITATIONACTIVE LABORACTIVE LABOR MARKETACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIESACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMSADOLESCENTSAGE GROUPAGGREGATE PRODUCTIVITYAPPLIED RESEARCHAVERAGE UNEMPLOYMENTAVERAGE WAGESBACKGROUND PAPERSBASIC EDUCATIONBRAIN DRAINCARPENTERSCHRONIC POVERTYCITIZENCIVIL CONFLICTCLASSROOM TRAININGCLERKSCURRICULUMDECLINE IN BIRTH RATESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISMISSALDRIVERSDROPOUTDROPOUT RATESDRUG TRAFFICKINGDRUGSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC POLICIESEDUCATED PEOPLEEDUCATION OF CHILDRENEDUCATION STUDENTSEDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL QUALITYEDUCATIONAL SYSTEMEMPLOYABILITYEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT SECURITYENROLLMENT RATESFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFORMAL EMPLOYMENT SECTORFORMAL SECTOR WORKERSGROSS NATIONAL INCOMEHEALTH INSURANCEHIGHER EDUCATIONHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMMIGRANTIMMIGRANTSIMPACT OF MIGRATIONINCOME INEQUALITYINFORMAL SECTORINFORMATION SERVICESINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTUREINTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONINTERPERSONAL SKILLSINVESTMENT IN EDUCATIONINVESTMENTS IN EDUCATIONJOB COUNSELINGJOB CREATIONJOB OPPORTUNITIESJOB PLACEMENTJOB SEARCHJOB SEARCH ASSISTANCEJOB SEARCH ASSISTANCE PROGRAMSJOBSKNOWLEDGE BASELABOR DEMANDLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET CONDITIONSLABOR MARKET DEMANDLABOR MARKET NEEDLABOR MARKET NEEDSLABOR MARKET PROGRAMLABOR MARKET SITUATIONLABOR MARKETSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR SHORTAGESLABORERSLABOURLEARNINGLEARNING ASSESSMENTSLEARNING ENVIRONMENTLEARNING OUTCOMESLEVEL OF DEVELOPMENTLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLOW EMPLOYMENTLOW UNEMPLOYMENTLOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATESMEDICAL PROFESSIONALSMIGRANTMIGRANT-SENDING COUNTRIESMIGRATION FLOWSMINIMUM WAGEMINIMUM WAGESMINORITYNATURAL DISASTERSNATURAL RESOURCESNUMBER OF WORKERSNUTRITIONOCCUPATIONSON-THE-JOB TRAININGOPEN ACCESSPAYING JOBSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL TURMOILPOOR FAMILIESPOPULATION PROJECTIONSPOSTGRADUATE LEVELPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTORSPRIVATE UNIVERSITIESPRODUCTION FACILITYPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENTPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROGRAM DESIGNPROTECTING WORKERSPUBLIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC UNIVERSITIESQUALITY ASSURANCEQUALITY EDUCATIONQUALITY OF EDUCATIONQUALITY OF TEACHINGRATE OF GROWTHREAL WAGESREGIONAL POPULATIONREMITTANCESRESEARCHERSRURAL AREASSAFETY NETSAFETY NETSSANITATIONSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL STUDENTSSCHOOL YOUTHSCIENTIFIC SKILLSSCIENTISTSSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE SECTORSSEVERANCE PAYMENTSKILL DEVELOPMENTSKILL LEVELSKILL SHORTAGESSKILL STRUCTURESKILLED LABORSKILLED PEOPLESKILLED WORKFORCESMALL COUNTRIESSOCIAL COHESIONSOCIAL EXPENDITURESSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL PROTECTION MECHANISMSSOCIAL SECURITYSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTEACHERTEACHERSTECHNICAL SKILLSTERTIARY EDUCATIONTERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEMSTERTIARY GRADUATESTERTIARY INSTITUTIONSTERTIARY LEVELTRAINING INSTITUTIONSTRAINING SYSTEMTRANSPORTATIONUNDERGRADUATE LEVELUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAMUNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATIONUNSKILLED LABORUNSKILLED WORKERSURBAN AREASVOCATIONAL TRAININGVULNERABILITYWAGE INCREASEYOUNG CHILDRENYOUNG PEOPLEYOUTH EMPLOYMENTYOUTH TRAININGYOUTH TRAINING PROGRAMSYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENTWorld Bank10.1596/11924