Investing in young people still extremely important |
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Demographic patterns highly variable across the region but main issues the same While other developing regions are experiencing or anticipating an increase in their numbers of young people, the number of youth in ECA has peaked and is set to decline. However, patterns vary across countries, with youth populations set to grow significantly in countries where fertility remains high (Turkey, Tajikistan).
Although countries are also very differently positioned within the demographic ‘window of opportunity’—where rapid growth in the number of working-age people can be an opportunity for economic growth if accompanied by the right policies—investment in young people is still extremely important. This is because of its long term effects on economic and social development, but also because of heightened expectations and exposure of the young. In Armenia, young people accounted for 50 percent of internet users, while in Kyrgyztan, they accounted for 61 percent.
| | What's on their minds?
A 2001 UNICEF survey of young people in ECA indicates that access to jobs, along with physical security, is their biggest concern. The answer is not less education, but more jobs.
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