Building Human Capital Where It Matters

Norbert Schady, Alaka Holla, Joana Silva, Andres Yi Chang

ISBN 10: 1464822778 / ISBN 13: 9781464822773

Published by World Bank Publications, US, 2026

About this Item

This new human capital report emphasizes that the places where people grow up, live, and work have a powerful impact on their health, learning, and job prospects. By focusing on homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, it reveals untapped opportunities to improve lives, reduce poverty, and drive long-term economic progress.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781464822773

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Building Human Capital Where It Matters
• Publisher: World Bank Publications, US
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1464822778
• ISBN 13: 9781464822773
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Human capital— the health, knowledge, skills, and experience that people accumulate throughout their lives— is essential for productivity and economic growth. Yet, progress has stalled, and there have even been reversals in human capital accumulation over the last 15 years. Two-thirds of low- and middle-income countries experienced declines in nutrition, learning, or workforce skill development between 2010 and 2025. Building Human Capital Where It Matters argues that, to accelerate human capital development and accumulation, the focus of policy needs to be expanded beyond schools and clinics to include other key settings where human capital is built: the home, the neighborhood, and the workplace. This settings approach provides an understanding of some of the crucial drivers of human capital accumulation, such as care for children and adolescents in the home, the social dynamics and the quality of the environment in neighborhoods, and job attributes that foster learning at work. It also makes evident the benefits of collaboration across various departments of governments and between the public and private sectors and the need for a more ambitious data agenda that tracks progress in human capital in the home, the neighborhood, and the workplace.