Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can face major challenges in entering the labour market. Disadvantaged youth, especially from lower-income and ethnic minority backgrounds, face higher drop-out rates and are more likely to become NEET (not in employment, education or training). In Boston, Massachusetts, United States the City’s Youth Employment and Opportunity (YEO) Office administers FutureBOS, a summer youth employment programme (SYEP) that provides summer part-time employment and coaching for young people aged between 14-24 to support their entry into the labour market.
FutureBOS – United States (Boston, Massachusetts)
Abstract
Introduced in the early 1980s, FutureBOS, offers part-time summer employment for over 9 000 young people (2023) in Boston between the ages of 14 and 24 for a six‑week period over the summer. FutureBOS provides young people with up to 25 hours of work per week, paid the Massachusetts minimum wage. The City Hall offers young people subsidised or unsubsidised employment based on an application process. Boston finances providers to run the selection process. Young people in subsidised jobs can join an additional programme, known as SuccessLink. As part of this programme, young people receive job-readiness training from a provider. FutureBos places young people in jobs with non-profit organisations, an agency of the city, or a private company. In 2023, over 200 employers worked with the Boston City Hall as part of the programme. The objective of FutureBOS is to help young people enter the labour market and reduce socio‑ethnic employment inequalities between young people. The City Hall mobilised around USD 18.7 million from local, Massachusetts state and private financing to support the youth summer jobs in 2023 alone.
Multiple FutureBOS evaluations have been undertaken, which have noted its strong outcomes for youth target groups. An evaluation by Modestino and Paulsen (2019) based on randomised admission lotteries measures the effects of FutureBOS on academic performance. The study compared the outcomes for 1 186 student applicants who were randomly selected into the programme with those for 3 049 applicants who were not. The evaluation found that those that participated were 4.4 percentage points more likely to complete secondary school (high school) on time. Programme participants were 2.5 percentage points less likely to leave secondary school early. Students posted higher academic results compared to the control group the first year after completing FutureBOS.
Counterfactual evaluation also reveals longer-term benefits for at-risk young people participating in the Boston SYEP. Based on administrative records from 12 to 18 months after 2015 participation, data show a 35% reduction in violent crime in the participating group. The data suggests participants strengthened their social and emotional skills through the programme, an increase which was correlated with a decrease in crime. Employment outcomes, including recruitment and wages, were higher in the year immediately following programme participation in 2015, though not significantly different than those of the control group during this time. Employment did grow for those who gained job search skills, such as writing a cover letter or training for interviews.
This practice also supports the implementation of provisions II.4 and III.1 of the OECD Recommendation on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People (OECD, 2022[1]).
Further reading
[2] Boston Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and Northeastern University (2017), Reducing Inequality Summer by Summer, An Analysis of the Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program, https://owd.boston.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/SYEP-Report-FINAL-12.12.17.pdf.
[3] Modestino, A. and R. Paulsen (2023), “School’s Out: How Summer Youth Employment Programs Impact Academic Outcomes”, Education Finance and Policy, Vol. 18/1, pp. 97-126, https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00371.
[4] OECD (2024), Boston’s landmark programme for disadvantaged youth: futureBOS, OECD, Paris, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/providing-local-actors-with-case-studies-evidence-and-solutions-places_eb108047-en/boston-s-landmark-programme-for-disadvantaged-youth-futurebos_1dda53da-en.html.
[1] OECD (2022), Recommendation of the Council on Creating Better Opportunities for Young People, https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0474.
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