Going online for work: global evidence of ICT access and its association on youth employment by gender (1991–2022)

This study examines the association between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access and youth unemployment rates by gender across up to 166 countries from 1991 to 2022. Using a comprehensive cross-national time-series analysis, we evaluate three dimensions of ICT access: internet usage, fixed broadband subscriptions, and mobile phone penetration. Employing two-way fixed effects (2WFE), panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), and system generalized method of moments (System GMM) models, the findings suggest that increased ICT access is significantly and negatively associated with youth unemployment rates, with a stronger and more consistent association observed for female youths compared to male youths. This gendered pattern highlights the potential of ICT to address structural barriers that disproportionately hinder young women’s labor market participation. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that these associations are substantially stronger in developing countries compared to developed economies, suggesting that the marginal returns to ICT development may be higher in contexts where baseline connectivity remains low. These findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, emphasizing the need to expand digital infrastructure and implement gender-sensitive interventions to promote inclusive youth employment in the digital age.