Contents
Main Messages v
Executive Summary 1
The pandemic destroyed human capital at critical moments in the life cycle 2
Policies to reverse human capital losses 8
Building agile, resilient, and adaptive human development systems for future shocks 11
A human capital recovery: What will it take? 12
Notes 13
References 13
Figures
ES.1 The pandemic led to steep losses in early childhood development and early learning in
very young children in Bangladesh and Brazil 4
ES.2 During the pandemic, each month of school closures led to one month of learning losses,
and more so in countries with lower GDP per capita 6
ES.3 Youth employment fell in most countries during the pandemic 7
ES.4 Declines in employment of young people during the pandemic were not offset by increases in
schooling or training 8
ES.5 What are the paths to recovery? 9
Table
ES.1 There are evidence-proven policies that can reverse human capital losses 10
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