With the first leftist government coming to power in the history of the country, Uruguay started this year with a new stage in its economic, political and social development. As one of the smallest countries in the area, the country has always been distinguished for its relatively low levels of poverty and an unequal income distribution, at the same time showing great democratic stability during almost all of the 20th century.

In demographics, Uruguay is one of the oldest societies in all of Latin America, with low birth and death rates, high life expectancies, and high emigration among the young population, resulting in minimal population growth. In addition, half of the population is concentrated in the capital, Montevideo, while the other half is distributed within the other 18 departments in the interior. 

Although there was significant economic growths during a good part of the 1990s, starting in 1997 a profound recessive crisis, which peaked in 2002 with a great banking crisis, left the country on the edge of total bankruptcy.  External debt has grown exponentially and has placed Uruguay as one of the most indebted countries in the world. 

In this framework poverty has doubled, currently affecting almost 30% of the population, in a context where the global average is extremely skewed, so that the same distribution would be unequal, affecting children and youths (55% of the poor are under 5 years old) and more so in older adults (less than 5% above 65 years old).  One of the major problems facing the new government administration is poverty affecting children.

In this light, it is very difficult to be young in Uruguay.  About 700,000 youths between 15 and 29 years of age constantly face hardship, constituting more than half of all unemployed and underemployed. At the same time they face acute forms of school dropout (although enrollment has increased, those who actually complete the curriculum are few).

As supported in diverse specialized studies, the Uruguayan youths face a paradox of being left out, although they may be few.  This occurs because, among other things, the public policies have historically placed the adult male as the head of household, and only in the last few decades, due to strong pressures and corporate revindications, has there been more attention towards women.  In this framework, the social securities (those with greater coverage in the region) benefit adults which leave new generations in the open. 

 Emigrating is the option for those most qualified and dynamic, looking outside the borders of the country that is not providing for them.  Meanwhile, the middle class has no other option but to wait for them to go so they may occupy their empty spaces.  In the case of the poor, there are simply no options, and they must mix uncertain occupations with options linked to different forms of petty crimes just to survive. 

The specialized youth institutions are very new.  The National Youth Institute was created in 1990, and even still has not been able to position itself as an effective and robust mechanism in the dynamic of public policies.  Working with very scarce resources (human, infrastructural and financial) the INJU hasn’t been able to effectively articulate the different youth sanctioned policies (especially those that concentrate in education, employment, health, culture, recreation and sports).  In the municipal scope, the Montevideo Superintendence has become an important experience, that can now be replicated in other departments also governed by Frente Amplio, and other departamental superintendences governed by the National Party. 

On its part, the Uruguayan Youth Council (CJU) formally combines an ample and varied range of youth organizations and movements, but, in practice, it has not been able to express, with the necessary force, the interests and demands of new generations.  Some specialized non-governmental organizations (NGO) play relevant youth promotion roles as well (Youth Forums, the Thistle, Tacurú Movement, etc.), but because the impacts are limited, they largely depend on contracts offered by the State (national and municipal).

The new government relies on important political and electoral endorsements of young people, and has manifested a firm will for processing relevant changes in these areas because it is an important group in this respect. Although it will be necessary to confront important inertias and strong cooperative pressures, one hopes that the near future will allow for advances in improving standards of living and the strengthening of spaces for youth citizenship participation.

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