The Basic Package of Support (BPS) programme is a multi-faceted intervention that recognises the connections between youth unemployment, poverty, and wellbeing. BPS seeks to address these interconnected factors in a comprehensive approach. In doing so, the programme takes into consideration that the journeys for young people to earning or learning opportunities may not be linear and may differ widely across people: some youth may find themselves “further” from labour market opportunities than others. For example, youth with lower levels of education, higher levels of emotional distress or household insecurities, and little work experience may require different types and a different intensity of support than those who may have completed some form of tertiary education in an area of study that is more highly “rewarded” in the harsh South African labour market. Having shown positive outcomes, BPS is now focused on consolidating its approach, exploring ways to scale up, and conducting a longer-term impact study.
The BPS works to strengthen young people’s agency and improve their self-efficacy, emotional well-being, and socio-economic inclusion – all prerequisites for increased employability. BPS also aims to offer youth a sense of possibility and belonging, by providing them with problem-solving tools, clarifying possible pathways forward, and linking them to services and opportunities that can enhance their progress in life.
BPS was implemented during a pilot phase in 2022 and 2023, aimed at reaching proof of concept – i.e., an understanding of whether we could deliver the programme as intended and whether the intended inputs, outputs, and outcomes were being met. This involved the implementation of each building block of BPS in several communities across the country, and of the various Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Research methods.
Having achieved and presented proof of concept, the programme has now entered a period of consolidation and preparation for scale. In this new phase of the work, presenting the lessons of the pilot phase, providing dedicated attention to developing and testing scale pathways, as well as fundraising for the sustainability of the flagship sites, and the revision and continuation of the research approach to continue to inform policy and practice, are key. We are therefore incredibly grateful to receive support from, and work closely with longstanding partner Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator. Harambee operates the SA Youth platform as part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention. This partnership will enable BPS to further test ways of scaling the pathways and transitioning of youth from wellbeing to livelihoods.
In this new phase, SALDRU, in continued partnership with the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA), and with support from the World Bank, will also take the lead on the development and implementation of a BPS tracer study. This exciting new piece of work will allow the team to assess the longer term effects of, and engagement with, BPS. In addition, the data collected during the tracer study will form the basis of work needed to investigate and understand the different intensities of support needed by different profiles of youth, in order to successfully move closer to the labour market.
Summarising, the tracer study aims to:
- Assess whether the programme leads to a longer-term, sustained effect on young people’s lives: we know from the pilot stage data that young people who complete three coaching sessions see significant positive changes in several of the well-being indicators and are able to connect to learning or earning opportunities. We now need to track whether these shifts remain in young people’s lives after a more extended period of having engaged with BPS;
- Explore what profile of youth requires what intensity of support: pilot stage data show us that the engagement and movement of young people through the BPS coaching sessions is neither linear nor uniform: some youth connect to opportunities after just one coaching session; others require multiple in-between touch points before completing the core three coaching sessions and do not automatically connect to learning or earning. A better understanding of the vulnerability profile of youth in the BPS cohort, of their pathways through the programme, and connections to learning or earning opportunities, would ultimately allow us to inform a more targeted allocation of resources.
The new study will run throughout 2025.