Investing in Adolescents
and Youth Can Yield Wide-Ranging Dividends
Some three billion children and young people
are, or will soon be, of reproductive age. In 57 developing countries,
over 40 per cent of the population is under 15. Investing in this
younger generation is important for a host of ethical, human rights,
gender and economic reasons, and it is a top priority of UNFPA.
The Fund recognizes that support for adolescents
and youth is one of the most cost-effective strategic interventions
to attain ICPD goals. Support for young people is also critical
for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The lives of young people will vastly improve as targets related
to poverty and hunger eradication, education, gender equality,
child and maternal mortality, health, HIV/AIDS and environmental
sustainability are met. Moreover, given appropriate support and
opportunities, young people can become a powerful force for their
achievement and for sustained progress.
Investments in health and education are among
the most cost-effective development expenditures in terms of the
social and private returns they generate.
Girls and their families who face limited
life prospects may look to early pregnancy or marriage for economic
and social security. However, early pregnancy is closely correlated
with poverty. Delaying first births can improve quality of life,
educational
and employment opportunities for young women. But adolescent pregnancy
rates — and associated social, emotional and economic
costs — remain high.
Without education or employable skills, pregnant
girls may be forced to drop out of school, and be poorly prepared
to take on the responsibilities of childrearing, while facing diminished
income prospects. Education — especially completion of secondary
school — can be a lever for breaking out of poverty.
Girls' education can be particularly important in breaking the
inter-generational transmission of poverty by leading to smaller
families, more investments in each child's health and education,
and greater earning potential.
For countries with high population growth rates,
girls' education carries additional benefits: for every extra year
that girls spend in school, fertility rates drop by 5 to 10 per
cent. Indeed, most countries now recognize that investing in and
empowering women and girls is an effective and strategic way to
advance the development agenda.
Moreover, for a majority of young people, economic
life begins in the adolescent years — for those who can get
jobs. But unemployment is high for this group. Enhancing the skills
base and employability — especially of the poorest groups — can
translate into better jobs and better pay — a better chance
to escape poverty and socio-economic exclusion.
Without urgent measures to enable young people
to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, development gains, economic
prospects — and their very lives — are being dangerously
undermined, or lost. About half of all the people living with HIV/AIDS
are under 25. Everyday, 6,000 more become infected, mostly young
women. Yet, many millions still do not know how HIV is transmitted
or how to prevent it.
As AIDS decimates parents and breadwinners, adolescents
increasingly find themselves as heads of households. The majority
of the more than 10 million children who have lost one or both
parents to AIDS, most of them in Africa, are between the ages of
10 and 14. These adolescents are being thrown into adult roles
with minimal or insufficient supports, obliged to sacrifice educational
and other skills-building opportunities to support their
families or for their own survival.
The spread of HIV/AIDS is preventable, and the
global community knows how to halt it. Where HIV/AIDS is falling
(such as in Brazil, Senegal, Thailand and Uganda), it is largely
because young people are being given the information and means
to protect themselves. The return on preventing more HIV infection
among young people is enormous, when one considers arrested development,
lost agricultural output, excess training costs to provide for
personnel losses, health facility overloads, treatment (where available)
and care, among other factors. The economic benefit of a single
averted HIV infection is estimated at $34,600 for a poor country
with an annual per capita earnings of $1,000 per year. The human
benefit is incalculable.
The demographic surge of young people offers
a one-time window of opportunity. For a large group of countries
where fertility has declined sharply in the last two decades, the
proportion of the population of working age (15 to 60) will increase
relative to younger and older dependent populations over the next
few decades. With appropriate investments, policies and governance,
countries can take advantage of this low dependency ratio, or demographic ‘bonus',
to launch economic, social, cultural and structural transformation.
This window will open much later for countries where fertility
remains high, unless critical investments are made now.
Whether or not a country can take advantage of
this opportunity, however, depends on whether young people entering
the workforce are literate and educated, healthy and hopeful, as
well as skilled. Moreover, proper economic and social policies
should be in place to equip and employ their growing numbers in
productive ventures.
Failing to invest adequately in the full potential
of young people will mean losing this potential demographic opportunity.
The impact of HIV/AIDS in particular, could offset much of the
potential gains. Moreover, ignoring the needs of young people carries
important risks, not only for their lives, but also for national
and global stability, security and socio-economic development.
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