Forget the Pandemic. Let’s talk about Pandemials.

Young adults (ages 15–24) around the world are experiencing their second major global crisis within a decade: they entered youth in the throes of the financial crisis, and are now exiting at the outset of a pandemic not seen in generations. They will face serious challenges to their education, economic prospects and mental health. The outlook for this generation had already been diminished by environmental degradation, rising inequality (of many types – gender, intergenerational, economic and ethnic), varying degrees of violence, and social disruption from the tech-enabled industrial transformation. While the digital leap forward has unlocked opportunities for some youth, many are now entering the workforce in an employment ice age. According to the Global Risks Perception Survey of 2019 , youth disillusionment is a top neglected risk that will become a critical threat to the world over the next few years.

 

What risks will young people face in the next decade?