Children and Youth in Crisis : Protecting and Promoting Human Development in Times of Economic Shocks

Lundberg, Mattias ; Wuermli, Alice

Washington, DC: World Bank

关键词: ADOLESCENCE;    ADOLESCENT;    ADOLESCENT BEHAVIOR;    ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT;    ADOLESCENTS;   

DOI  :  10.1956/978-0-8213-9547-9
RP-ID  :  70260

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Motivated by the need to understand howcrises affect human development in diverse segments of thepopulation, this book explores how individuals andhouseholds cope with the changes and stresses induced byeconomic crises. It examines how these impacts and copingmechanisms differ across cultural and institutional contextsand looks at how best to protect the most vulnerable fromlasting harm and the degradation of human capital. Financialcrises, at both the global and the national level, areubiquitous. Reinhart and Rogoff (2009) provide theinvaluable lesson that over the past 800 years a majorcrisis has happened roughly once every 20 years. Thispattern raises concern about the human impacts of crises,especially among more vulnerable people in developingcountries. During the most recent global financial crisis,international organizations, bilateral development agencies,and civil society organizations all expressed concern aboutthe ongoing 'human crisis.' The global communityhas become alarmed that the crisis could reverse recentprogress in poverty reduction and the achievement of theMillennium Development Goals. Human development is at thecore of economic development. Human capital accumulation atall stages from the antenatal environment through earlychildhood and adolescence helps facilitate the transition toa healthy and productive adulthood and break theintergenerational transmission of poverty. Shortfalls orsetbacks at any stage of the life course may have severeconsequences for individual development as well as for thegrowth and development of successful communities. The workpresented in this volume deepens our understanding of howshocks affect children and youth in two ways. First, theauthors aggregate the evidence on various developmentaloutcomes across developmental stages from conception toadulthood. Second, the authors show that the impact ofcrises will differ according to the social and environmentalcontexts in which the child or young person grows and thatshocks can in turn affect those contexts. The authors hopeto understand the short- and long-term impacts of crises,and whether we can identify particular protective factorsthat support children's recovery from the worst ravagesof the crisis. The focus on transmission mechanisms, thepathways of influence, leads to a set of broad policyrecommendations for enhancing both protection and recovery.