A sustainable development metric based on youth

Abstract

Nearly two decades ago, the World Bank declared achieving sustained and equitable development to be the greatest challenge facing the human race. In this article, an index of youth investment (IYI) is proposed to highlight children and the intergenerational dimension of sustainable development. The index incorporates quality-adjusted measures for child health and education. Comparisons with two complementary indicators of sustainable development, the human development index (HDI) and the adjusted net saving rate (AS), are made. A cross-section of 34 nations for 2006 is used as an illustration. A discussion of policies for promoting sustainable development through investing in children concludes the article.

Keywords:

• sustainable development
• investment in youth
• education
• health
• poverty