finance168財經學院(百萬部落格)

The global economic crisis, prolonged by strains within the euro area, has put millions of youth out of work—50 percent in Spain and Greece and 30 percent in Portugal and Italy. It threatens to spawn a “lost generation” that may find it hard to recover, and it is likely to exact a harsh human toll for years to come.

The young are naturally resilient and tend to have fewer dependents than older generations. But those who are out of a job for a long time often see their self-confidence and skills erode and lose their attachment to the labor force (see “The Tragedy of Unemployment,” in the December 2010 issue of F&D). They can become disheartened, disempowered, and disconnected from established institutions (see “Voices of Youth,” in this issue of F&D).

Yet clearly, in the long run, it is today’s young people who will face the task of creating economic success and human security.

Allowing youth to take the lead will mean of course ensuring that they have a good education and good health. In some countries, a declining share of young people in the population will make it easier to spend more resources on them. In others, where youth represent a rising fraction of the population, the reverse will be true. And in many countries, competition for resources is on the horizon, as an aging population, after decades of contribution, sees itself at risk and demands more attention (see “The Price of Maturity,” in the June 2011 issue of F&D).

More than one in six people in the world are between the ages of 15 and 24. Yet the world’s 1.2 billion adolescents and young adults are probably the most neglected—by policy analysts, business thinkers, and academic researchers—of all the age groups. Not only have the 810 million people over the age of 60, whose growing numbers threaten social safety nets around the world, attracted more attention, so have children and prime-age adults.

Source URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2012/03/bloom.htm