Publication: Argentine Youth : An Untapped Potential
Date
2009-03-01
ISSN
Published
2009-03-01
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Argentina's youth, 6.7 million
between the ages of 15 and 24, are an important, but to a
certain extent untapped, resource for development. Over 2
million (31 percent) have already engaged in risky
behaviors, and another 1 million (15 percent) are exposed to
risk factors that are correlated with eventual risky
behaviors. This totals 46 percent of youth at some form of
risk. Today's youth cohort is the country's
largest ever and it's largest for the foreseeable
future. If policymakers do not invest in youth now,
especially in youth at risk, they will miss a unique
opportunity to equip the next generation with the abilities
to become the drivers of growth, breaking the
intergenerational spiral of poverty and inequality and
moving Argentina back into the group of high-income
countries. If youth are educated and skilled, they can be a
tremendous asset for development. If not, they can burden
society and public finances. Overall, Argentina is blessed
with high enrollment rates in school, low levels of crime
and violence, and moderate to low drug use by youth.
However, youth employment, smoking and binge drinking
(including its effect on traffic accidents), teen
pregnancies, and HIV pose challenges for youth policy. While
most youth in Argentina are educated, skilled, and healthy,
a large group is potentially at risk of engaging in myopic
behaviors, including school absenteeism and leaving,
substance use and abuse, delinquency, crime, and risky
sexual behavior. The consequences of these risky behaviors,
unemployment, adolescent pregnancy, sexually-transmitted
diseases, addiction, incarceration, violence, and social
exclusion, make it difficult for youth to successfully
transition to adulthood, imposing large costs on individuals
and society. Applying the framework of the world development
report 2007, this report examines the five life-changing
transitions that all youth confront: leaving school and
continuing to learn, starting to work, developing and
maintaining a healthy lifestyle, forming a family, and
exercising citizenship.
Citation
“World Bank. 2009. Argentine Youth : An Untapped Potential. World Bank Country Study. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2622 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”