Youth at Risk, Social Exclusion, and Intergenerational Poverty Dynamics: A New Survey Instrument with Application to Brazil
This paper addresses the underlying causes of problems and risks faced by poor and excluded youth of 10-24 years of age. The authors develop a survey instrument that addresses poverty in a broad sense, including hunger, early pregnancy and fatherho...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/05/4241410/youth-risk-social-exclusion-intergenerational-poverty-dynamics-new-survey-instrument-application-brazil http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14103 |
| Summary: | This paper addresses the underlying
causes of problems and risks faced by poor and excluded
youth of 10-24 years of age. The authors develop a survey
instrument that addresses poverty in a broad sense,
including hunger, early pregnancy and fatherhood, violence,
crime, drug use, low levels of social capital, and low
educational attainment. The authors also shed light on
intergenerational transfer of risks that are considered to
induce poverty. They document findings based on the survey
data gathered in three poor urban neighborhoods in Fortaleza
in Northeast Brazil. Their main findings show that: (i) Poor
youth are at considerable risk of growing up without their
father. Only 7 percent grow up with their father present in
the household. (ii) The intergenerational transmission of
low education attainment is at play, but it is diminishing.
(iii) The risk of early pregnancy and fatherhood is large
among poor and excluded youth-31 percent of the youth had
their first child before age 16, triple that of the adult
population. (iv) The risk of sexual abuse and violence
within the household exists-6 percent of the youth answered
that they had their first sexual relationship with a family
member, and 13 percent grow up in households with violence.
(v) The social capital levels are low-only 5 percent of the
youth and 9 percent of the adults have measurable social
capital. (vi) The risk of growing up in a violent
neighborhood is large-59 percent of the youth claim that
they live in a violent neighborhood, 80 percent feel unsafe
in their neighborhood, and 50 percent feel unsafe at home. |
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