Generation Hope: Young People in a Changing World health and well-being, employment and economic opportunity and participation were chosen as the core components of youth development. Education is a crucial resource, which is strongly correlated with occupational entry, levels of pay and security, and life satisfaction, although there are large and persistent inequalities associated with educational performance and progression.45 Physical and mental health and behaviours that have an impact on health, such as smoking and drinking alcohol, are also clearly related to socio-economic status and some of the habits and practices that become established in youth will subsequently affect patterns of mortality.46 Patterns of participation are also related to socio-economic status: having an interest in politics and participating in elections are more common among young people from more affluent families and those who are better educated.47 The YDI is a global measure of the progress of young people across five domains: Civic Participation, Education, Employment and Opportunity, Health and Well-being, and Political Participation (Figure 1.1). There were innumerable indicators to consider within each domain. The 18 indicators in the YDI were chosen on the basis of the quality, relevance, and global coverage of available data. Figure 1.1  The five domains of the Youth Development Index The methodology and components of the YDI were reviewed, refined and validated by the YDI Technical Advisory Committee, which includes leading researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around the world. The final list of indicators consists of datasets that include comparable, timely and trusted information on large numbers of countries, to minimise the need for imputations. A discussion on indicator improvements can be found in the section on methodology in Annex 2. The YDI Technical Advisory Committee will continue to investigate improved data and methodology for future iterations of the YDI. The YDI attempts to be as comprehensive as possible, taking into account the key aspects of young people’s lives. However, in enabling cross-country comparisons, it is not always possible to make like-for-like comparisons given the data limitations in some countries. Over time it is hoped that governments, international institutions, NGOs, civil society and researchers can work together to improve the quality and quantity of available data and work towards creating more robust measures of youth development. 1.8.1 Education Education opens up opportunities and improves life chances. However, there are still vast numbers of young people who lack basic literacy skills, and opportunities are restricted for a range of groups such as girls and young women, rural youth and young people with disabilities.48 Therefore those involved in youth development should prioritise improving access to quality education for all. Education 1.8.2  Health and Well-being Political Participation Health and Well-being Youth Development Civic Participation Employment and Opportunity Although young people are often thought to be in the prime of health, many die from injury, road accidents, suicide, violence, communicable diseases (including HIV) and non-communicable diseases. Moreover, a large number suffer from illnesses and conditions that hinder their ability to grow and develop to their full potential. In order to develop positively, young people require access to good healthcare and, crucially, should engage in healthier practices to guard against premature death and diseases, and to ensure they will be healthy in adult life. \ 13