Health Related Behaviours of Youth: Implications of National Development

• Author: Chukwudum Uche and Lisa Norman
• Pages: 103-126

103

CARIBBEAN HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Health Related Behaviours

of Youth: Implications for

National Development

The population of Jamaica is gradually ageing but still has large proportions

in younger age groups. The proportion of the population under 15 years

of age, that is children, has fallen from about 45 per cent in 1970 to 35 per

cent in 1991. Children are projected (medium variant assumptions) to be 30

per cent of the population in 2000, 26 per cent in 2010 and 23 per cent in

2020. The proportion of the population that is economically active, that is

within the 15–64 age group, has risen from 50 per cent in 1970 to 58 per

cent in 1991. This group is projected to grow further and constitute 63 per

cent of the population in 2020.

The trend noted above, in which the economically active population

becomes the dominant part of the age structure, has been referred to as a

‘demographic bonus’. The bonus or benefit is only a potential; it only becomes

an actuality when this population group has the skills, employment and other

opportunities to realize its dreams. If this happens, economic growth is

enhanced. On the other hand, the elderly, the proportion of the population

that is 65 years and older, was about 5 per cent in 1970 and 7 per cent in

1991. It is projected to be 8 per cent by 2020. The median age of the population

is the statistic that summarises the above trend most lucidly. The median age

for Jamaican males was 16.5 years in 1970, 19.3 years in 1982 and 21.6 years

in 1991. For Jamaican females the comparable figures were 18, 20.4 and 22.7

years in 1970, 1982, and 1991, respectively. The median age for the total

population was projected to be 26 years in 2000, and is projected at 29.4

years in 2010 and 32.5 years in 2020.

The youth, people aged 15–24, and the subject of this study, were 16 per

cent of the population in 1970, 22 per cent in 1982 and 20 per cent in 1991.

Between 2000 and 2020, this proportion is projected to decline further from

18 per cent in 2000 to 16 per cent in 2020. (UNECLAC, 1991: 22; PIOJ,

1995: 41; STATIN, 1996: xix, 5; PIOJ, 1998: 3; UN, 1998: 643). The trend

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104 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

described for Jamaica is consistent with the experiences of other Caribbean

countries. The proportions of the populations within the age group 15–24

ranged between 17 and 21 per cent for nine countries with comparable data

in 1990/91 (UNECLAC, 1995: 108–109).

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Though the youth are about a fifth of the population, this proportion

distorts and devalues their economic importance. A more realistic perspective

of the youth is demonstrated when we analyse this group in relation to the

economically active population, the 15–64 age group. By the 1982 population

census, the youth comprised 40 per cent of the economically active population

and the 1991 population census showed a drop of its proportion to 35 per

cent. The medium variant projection indicates that this proportion would

have further declined to 28 per cent in 2000, and would decline to 25 per

cent in 2010 and 23 per cent in 2020. In short, between now and the next 18

years, the youth will make up, on average, a quarter of the economically

active population, (the powerhouse for economic growth and national

development). Any policy or programme of national or regional development

must be sensitive to their situations and concerns. We contend, therefore,

that one of the challenges facing the region is the set of choices youth are

making in the areas of health related attitudes and behaviours, especially with

reference to sexual attitudes, sexual behaviour and contraceptive use. These

choices have the potential to impact on health, productivity and national

development as depicted in Figures 1 and 2. We turn first to a brief discussion

of the model presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1:

Theoretical Model

Attitudes

Behaviors

Negative impact on labour productivity

Slow or negative economic growth

Poor health

Negative consequences on health

Culture