The number of young adults in Britain is about to rise sharply
The surge will change the country, while it lasts
DEMOGRAPHY IS NOT quite destiny, but it certainly creates possibilities. A country with a large share of young adults will benefit from a demographic dividend if it can create jobs for them, as South Korea managed to in the 1980s and 1990s. Alternatively, it can become violent and unstable. The surge of military aggression in 19th-century Europe, the rise in homicide beginning in the 1960s and the Arab Spring a decade ago have all been blamed on youth bulges.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Teenage kicks”
Britain August 21st 2021
- Policymakers weigh up the future of Britain’s pandemic state
- Out of lockdown, Britons are discovering other viruses still exist
- The number of young adults in Britain is about to rise sharply
- Scottish nationalism’s oil dilemma
- Boris Johnson promises to take in more Afghan refugees
- For some MPs Afghanistan is personal as well as political
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