World Youth Report 2007

Today’s young people are, on the whole, the best educated generation of youth in history, yet their transition to adulthood is often hampered by poverty and a lack of good job opportunities, finds the UN’s World Youth Report 2007 (hat tip: World Bank Private Sector Development blog). While access to education has improved over the years, many young people continue to face barriers to quality schooling and health care, a trend most prominent in the developing world. Furthermore, the dearth of decent employment opportunities for youth is driving many of them to migrate or to work in the informal sector, where they keep long hours, earn paltry wages, and lack social protection. Nonetheless, as there are now 1.2 billion young people aged 15-24, who constitute 25% of the working-age population, it is clear that youth can and should play a critical role in the development process, a point that the report urges policymakers to prioritize in the coming years.