Young Americans are optimistic about their future, but the massive growth in the number of young people across the world could be a global problem.
“At no point in recorded history has our world been so demographically lopsided, with old people concentrated in rich countries and the young in not-so-rich countries,” Somini Sengupta writes in The New York Times.
In the United States, 20 percent of the population is between ages 10 and 24. The world average is 25 percent, and it’s much higher in many developing countries. In Zimbabwe, it’s 36 percent; in Guatemala, it’s 33 percent; in Bangladesh, it’s 30 percent.
That presents those countries with a grand opportunity, but also a great challenge. Economic growth, migration, and political stability are at the forefront of the issues. If governments handle the demographic change well, economic prosperity and democracy could flourish. If corruption and authoritarianism remain strong, however, the future will be bleak for hundreds of millions.
The drive for reform in places such as Romania and Ukraine show young people who expect more from society and their government, but change has been stymied in India and China, among others.
So far, governments trying to cope with the youth bubble have been unsuccessful. “Worldwide, young workers are in precarious straits,” Sengupta wrote. The situation can be desperate in countries such as India, where protests over government jobs and caste-based quotas led to the deaths of 30 people. Even in Europe, youth unemployment is around 25 percent due to skills mismatch and tight labor markets that make it hard for young workers to convince employers to hire them. In Spain, the youth unemployment rate is 45 percent.
Were labor markets more open, young workers could establish a foothold and put their ambition to productive work. Stymied by harmful economic policies, corrupt and rights-violating governments, and a gender imbalance, however, the youth imbalance is more problem than opportunity for now.
