Investing today in youth –especially those considered “at risk”– in Latin America and the Caribbean will be much more beneficial both socially and financially than facing the consequences of not investing, concludes a new World Bank report. The report states that over half of youth between ages 12 and 24 in the region are considered at risk. The report, entitled The Promise of Youth: Policy for Youth at-Risk in Latin America and the Caribbean, recommends developing specific programs for these groups.

 The report, released today in Bogota, focuses on youth who have factors in their lives that lead them to engage in behavior or to experience events that are harmful to themselves and their societies, and for future generations. These are leaving school early, being jobless, engaging in substance abuse, behaving violently, initiating sex at a young age, or using unsafe sexual practices.

 “The circumstances and actions leading to inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean first appear during youth,” stated Wendy Cunningham, World Bank Economist and one of the report’s authors. “Not enough is being invested in youth right now as there is a trend to underestimate the real cost of their negative behavior, which actually reduces the region’s economic growth by up to 2% each year.”

 According to the report, unemployment among youth, crime, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and substance use can each reduce a country’s production by up to 1.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Risky situations for youth not only mean costs for the government, which allocates resources to help (or punish) these youth and protect society from their behavior (mainly violence), but also result in impacts on their families like lost income or increased cash expenses.

 In addition, the region’s demographic trends signal that these costs will increase in the future since the total youth population will grow until 2025. Governments could consider measures such as designing programs that target the at-risk subgroup as an investment; including risky behavior prevention programs starting at birth; and designing other second chance programs for youth at-risk.

 “There is a large percentage of the young population in Latin America and the Caribbean that is not at risk and some youth-driven initiatives have proven that youth can be productive and beneficial to countries’ development,” said Wendy Cunningham. “Even though today’s youth face considerable challenges and those at risk are disadvantaged, effective solutions in both investment and prevention exist.”

 According to the report, the region’s problems can be more effectively tackled by taking full advantage of contributions made by households, communities, civil society, local institutions, the private sector, and youth. The report concludes by highlighting that the most successful programs are those based on agreements among these different groups and tailored to each country’s needs and objectives.

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