Three ways for policy to empower the next generation

Three ways for policy to empower the next generation

By David Tran, John Hawksworth & Nick C Jones

Every person is born with potential. The key is how to unlock that potential. So, how can policymakers provide opportunities that empower young people to take ownership over their own future outcomes?

Our new research shows that we are missing out on over $1 trillion from not harnessing the potential of the youth of today. In our new PwC Young Workers Index report, we discuss how governments and businesses can reap the rewards from playing their part in making this happen.

And one thing is clear. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel to empower the youth of today. We can learn from countries such as Germany (the leading EU country in the index) that have been able to improve economic opportunities for younger people even after the financial crisis, when German youth unemployment rates dropped to around 7%. In contrast, almost half of young people were unemployed in countries, such as Spain and Greece, who have struggled to translate their policies into positive outcomes for young people. We can no longer afford to waste the potential of our youth in this way, so what can we do about it?

Switzerland, Germany and Austria lead the way in developing youth in our Young Workers Index this year, with Nordic countries also performing strongly such as Iceland (4th) and Norway (5th). But it’s not that easy to replicate the North European model. Each individual country needs to implement a tailored strategy that works for their youth and the communities around them, given their unique labour markets and social trends.

However, there are certainly lessons that we can learn from those high-performing countries that have implemented successful initiatives and have clearly improved economic opportunities for youth. We have nothing to lose but everything to gain from sharing good practice on an international level about what works and what doesn’t.

So, the question is: how can policymakers go about unlocking the potential of youth in a way that promotes social mobility? In our new Young Workers Index report, we recommend focusing policy on three key areas:

1. Promoting vocational education & training: A dual education system that incorporates vocational training and classroom learning could provide young people with more options in their transition into the working world. Engaging employers in the design and delivery of apprenticeship frameworks is particularly important to help prevent skill mismatches. In order to implement this successfully, it is important that the value of apprenticeships is recognised on an international level.
2. Engaging employers with youth and schools: Changing employers’ perceptions of youth and encouraging early engagement in schools could increase youth employability and the information around career options. This could include work experience, career advice, mentoring and youth-led social action. Encouraging businesses to have more of a voice in shaping the curriculum in education could also help the economy to adopt a more forward-looking approach, building the core transferable skills required in industries that expected to grow quickly. In addition, the education system needs to be receptive to more business involvement too.
3. Focusing on social inclusion: Reducing informal recruitment methods and the use of qualifications as filters could reduce work barriers and engage with young people from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Governments can target those at risk of long-term unemployment by engaging young people who have been unemployed for over 6 months in the form of education or training.

In conclusion, government policy needs to adopt a holistic approach when it comes to tackling youth unemployment, low skills levels and related social issues. Indeed, this should be recognised as both an economic and a social issue: there is a need to integrate youth skills policy with other social policies that impact youth. For example, reforms around the affordability of childcare for young parents and providing additional support for the transition of youth with disabilities into employment, education or training. And in order to capture as much of the $1 trillion prize as possible, governments need to engage with businesses, educational institutions, role models and young people themselves throughout this process. After all, we all have a stake in this.

This is no longer an opportunity to act; it's a need.