Youth at the crossroads: A generation with untapped potential

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

July 15, 2015, is the first ever United Nations World Youth Skills Day. Commemorating this day recognises that the high level of global youth unemployment has become a critical issue for the world, and also that we are capable of working together – governments, civil society and the private sector – to help youth gain the skills they need to gain access to changing labour markets and to make informed work and life choices.

An extraordinary untapped generation

Today’s youth make up 17 per cent of the world’s population, but 40 per cent of its unemployed population.

Today’s youth are extraordinary in many ways. They are the largest cohort of young people to ever live on the planet: there are 1.2 billion youth between the ages of 15-24 alive today. [1] Many countries are experiencing a demographic bulge of its youth population, which can present a number of challenges to society – the first being on the jobs front. The demand to create new jobs can be overwhelming. Most countries will end up with large populations of young people unable to find work. Today’s youth make up 17 per cent of the world’s population, but 40 per cent of its unemployed population. Across Africa, it is 80 per cent.[2] It is estimated that 621 million youth – that’s half of all youth in the world – are out of school, unemployed, and not in training.[3] Critically, 87 per cent of the world’s youth live in developing countries that typically struggle to provide adequate social safety nets.

An education crisis

One key driver of youth unemployment is lack of education and literacy. Far too many children and youth are unable to either access or complete their basic education. About 120 million children of primary and lower secondary school age are not in school,[4] and another 200 million youth dropped out before completing primary school.[5] Taken together, these alarming statistics mean that one in five young people have not completed their elementary education.

Youth at a crossroads

Today’s youth will be tomorrow’s civic, political, spiritual and economic leaders, the head’s of new households and drivers of economic growth and community renewal...many are not adequately prepared for these roles.

Today’s youth will be tomorrow’s civic, political, spiritual and economic leaders, the head’s of new households and drivers of economic growth and community renewal. Youth have energy, enthusiasm and a strong desire to find their identity and place in the world. However, many are not adequately prepared for these roles and have too few opportunities and support to gain the skills required. If these opportunities are not provided, what remains are largely negative or destructive pathways to identity and economic participation. There is risk in ignoring the youth population.

The image of youth at a crossroads represents this duel potential: a future where youth are supported and provided opportunities to gain the skills needed to participate positively and constructively in economic and social life, or a future defined by the increasing costs of a generation defined by a skills gap and left unprepared for their future. These costs include:

Negative self-identity, increased depression and suicide
Economic nomadism, unaccompanied youth migration, and trafficking
Increased participation in dangerous, degrading and illicit work
Increased risky behaviour like drug and alcohol abuse, unprotected sex and criminal activity
Increased recruitment into violent gangs and extremist movements

Youth viability and the skills gap

Youth viability is a term we use at World Vision to frame a set of ways to invest in the successful and safe transition of children into adults that are engaged and active economic citizens. It has five parts:

Basic Skills – including functional literacy, financial literacy and digital literacy
Life Skills - including those related to social emotional intelligence and work-readiness
Technical and vocational skills - along with professional competencies that provide youth with marketable productive capacity for employment or entreprenuership
Access to capital – including savings, microloans, seed money, and other age-appropriate financial services
Relational support - including family and peer support, adult mentors and business coaches

These are the five critical areas where governments, the private sector and civil society can partner to invest in improved youth employment outcomes.

What is World Vision doing to help?

At World Vision, we help prepare youth for economic opportunity and to contribute to the greater good and care for others. This includes providing youth with opportunities to gain vocational and technical skills, basic skills like reading and writing, financial literacy and digital literacy, soft skills related to communication, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration among others, and financial support or microfinance linkages for entreprenuership.

As we commemorate World Youth Skills Day, we must highlight the need to close the skills gap by focusing on providing youth access to alternative pathways to skills aquisition in contexts with high rates of school dropout. Offering informal, second chance learning for literacy, life skills and basic skills, and work-based training to further develop soft skills and technical and vocational skills can help out-of-school youth close the skills gap and be prepared to participate and contribute positively in their communities’ economic growth and political, civic and social development.

An extraordinary untapped generation

An education crisis

Youth at a crossroads

Youth viability and the skills gap

What is World Vision doing to help?

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