Description: Youth Well-Being in Brazil : An Index for Cross-Regional Comparisons

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Youth Well-Being in Brazil : An Index for Cross-Regional Comparisons

This study constructs three indices to measure how well Brazil's young people are surviving their transition to adulthood. Youth development is difficult to quantify because of the multi-dimensionality of youth behavior. Most monitoring use in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Dell'Aglio, Debora, Cunningham, Wendy, Koller, Silvia, Cassepp Borges, Vicente, Severo Leon, Joana
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ADOLESCENT ADOLESCENT HEALTH ADOLESCENT MORBIDITY ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY ADOLESCENTS ALCOHOLIC BASIC EDUCATION BIRTH WEIGHT BIRTHS BULLETIN CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD CIGARETTE SMOKING COCAINE CRIME DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DRUGS EARLY CHILDHOOD EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION EARLY PREGNANCY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES EPIDEMIC FACT SHEET FAMILIES HEALTH BEHAVIOR HEALTH CARE HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH INSURANCE HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH SYSTEM HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA HOSPITAL HOSPITALS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RIGHTS ILLICIT DRUG USE INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFORMATION SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY JUVENILE DETENTION LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LIVE BIRTHS LOW BIRTH WEIGHT LOW INFANT MORTALITY MARIJUANA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MINISTRY OF HEALTH MORBIDITY MORTALITY MORTALITY RATE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NEO-NATAL MORTALITY NEONATAL MORTALITY NUMBER OF PEOPLE OBESITY OFFENDERS OVERWEIGHT PARENTAL EDUCATION PARENTS PATIENT PHYSICIANS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL PARTICIPATION POLITICAL PROCESS POPULATION SIZE PREGNANCY PREGNANCY RATE PREGNANCY RATES PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH QUALITY OF LIFE RADIO RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR RISKY SEX RURAL AREAS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SCHOOLS SECONDARY EDUCATION SINGLE MOTHER SINGLE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS SMOKING SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SUBSTANCE ABUSE SUBSTANCE USE SUICIDE TEEN TEEN PREGNANCY TEENS TOBACCO TOBACCO USE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATES USE OF ALCOHOL VICTIMS VIOLENCE VIOLENT CRIME VULNERABILITY WORKERS WORKFORCE YOUNG PEOPLE YOUNG PERSON YOUTH YOUTH DEVELOPMENT YOUTH PARTICIPATION YOUTH POLICIES YOUTH POPULATION YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT YOUTH VIOLENCE YOUTH WORK
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/04/7523775/youth-well-being-brazil-index-cross-regional-comparisons http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7005

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Summary:	This study constructs three indices to measure how well Brazil's young people are surviving their transition to adulthood. Youth development is difficult to quantify because of the multi-dimensionality of youth behavior. Most monitoring use individual indicators in specific sectors, making it difficult to track overall progress. The study adapts to the Brazilian case a methodology developed by Duke University to measure the well-being of U.S. children and youth. It uses readily available data to construct three indices for each Brazilian state based on 36 indicators encompassing the health, behavior, school performance, institutional connectedness, and socioeconomic conditions. The indices conclude that young people in the states of Santa Catarina and the Federal District are doing particularly well and those in Alagoas and Pernambuco are the worst off. While these rankings are expected to continue into the next generation, young people in other states have a brighter (Espiritu Santo) or more dismal (Rio Grande de Sul, Tocatins) future due to underinvestment in today's children. Still others (Rio de Janeiro) are underutilizing their resources so their young citizens are in a worse situation than they could be if the state were to invest more. The hope is that the methodology can be used in Brazil as it has been used in the United States to estimate the indices annually, thus allowing policymakers, young people, and society to track the well-being of youth in each state over time.