‘A great demographic opportunity’
Henrietta H. Fore; 12/8/08
Young people under the age of 25 make up more than 50 per cent of the population in the Middle East and North Africa. More than 100 million are between the ages of 15 and 29. Youth are three-and-a-half times as likely as older workers to be unemployed, and their sheer numbers tax already overstretched health and education systems. Yet, with this challenge comes a great demographic opportunity. A large youth generation is the region’s best hope for economic growth and progress. The last similar regional demographic bulge was in Southeast Asia in the late 1980s. The countries of that region harnessed the power and creativity of their young people and fuelled an economic boom, a boom that weathered multiple financial crises and continues to pay rich dividends today. Young people are energetic and productive workers. They are avid consumers of goods and services. And when the ratio between the working age population and the nonworking age group shifts in favour of those working - as will soon happen in the Middle East and North Africa - it opens up the door to even higher productivity and incomes.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=9968
Tags: Africa, Asia, Young People