Meeting the challenges to adolescent well-being: context, returns on investment, and financing

Adolescents in many countries face serious challenges in realizing the level of well-being that is their human right. Many factors-deep-seated inequality within and between countries, rapid change in skill requirements for employment, climate change, and social media-are driving these deepening challenges. This paper develops three points about the need for an urgent response to this situation. First, there is now evidence that a powerful suite of cost-effective investments is available to improve adolescent well-being. To support this claim, we draw on recent modelling of investments for many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as on detailed case studies of three countries (India, South Africa, and Colombia). In all these studies, most of the investments are highly cost-effective, with benefit-cost ratios over 6, and in many cases much higher. However, the cost of these investments is substantial, especially for those that involve the education system, raising major financing issues for most countries. Second, the case studies highlight, at least for South Africa and Colombia, the extent to which within-country inequality harms adolescent development. For example, if school quality is poor for low-income groups or regions, schooling can perpetuate rather than arrest inequality, which in turn can lead to disruptive violence for these groups or regions. Third, countries with limited fiscal space, high debt levels, and inequality and violence curtailing growth rates will find it hard to fund the investments needed to transform adolescent well-being. Major reforms to development finance are necessary, such as those outlined at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development at Seville in mid-2025, as well as changes to the priority given to domestic investments. Steps to reduce income inequality by new fiscal measures are also important, to fund the investments in adolescent well-being and to make them more effective.