Argentine Youth : An Untapped Potential

World Bank

World Bank

关键词: ABORTION;    ACCESS TO EDUCATION;    ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE;    ADOLESCENCE;    ADOLESCENT;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-7924-0
RP-ID  :  48460

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Argentina's youth, 6.7 millionbetween the ages of 15 and 24, are an important, but to acertain extent untapped, resource for development. Over 2million (31 percent) have already engaged in riskybehaviors, and another 1 million (15 percent) are exposed torisk factors that are correlated with eventual riskybehaviors. This totals 46 percent of youth at some form ofrisk. Today's youth cohort is the country'slargest ever and it's largest for the foreseeablefuture. If policymakers do not invest in youth now,especially in youth at risk, they will miss a uniqueopportunity to equip the next generation with the abilitiesto become the drivers of growth, breaking theintergenerational spiral of poverty and inequality andmoving Argentina back into the group of high-incomecountries. If youth are educated and skilled, they can be atremendous asset for development. If not, they can burdensociety and public finances. Overall, Argentina is blessedwith high enrollment rates in school, low levels of crimeand violence, and moderate to low drug use by youth.However, youth employment, smoking and binge drinking(including its effect on traffic accidents), teenpregnancies, and HIV pose challenges for youth policy. Whilemost youth in Argentina are educated, skilled, and healthy,a large group is potentially at risk of engaging in myopicbehaviors, including school absenteeism and leaving,substance use and abuse, delinquency, crime, and riskysexual behavior. The consequences of these risky behaviors,unemployment, adolescent pregnancy, sexually-transmitteddiseases, addiction, incarceration, violence, and socialexclusion, make it difficult for youth to successfullytransition to adulthood, imposing large costs on individualsand society. Applying the framework of the world developmentreport 2007, this report examines the five life-changingtransitions that all youth confront: leaving school andcontinuing to learn, starting to work, developing andmaintaining a healthy lifestyle, forming a family, andexercising citizenship.