Where Does the Philippines Stand in the Global Youth Wellbeing Index

There is a new global index. There is now an index that focuses on the youth. Early this month, Nicole Goldin with co-authors Payal Patel and Katherine Perry published The Global Youth Wellbeing Index. This report is a joint effort between the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) with funding from the Hilton Worldwide. The survey looks at the well being of youth defined in the report as individuals aged 12 to 24. The report covers 30 countries, representing different levels of income and encompassing nearly 70 percent of the world's youth population. Where does the Philippines stand? Below is the overall ranking:

Above figure copied from the Global Youth Wellbeing Index

The Philippines is #22, ranking below its neighbors Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. The index measures the following different domains and the numbers shown in the last column is the Philippines' rank in that particular domain:

Above figure copied from the Global Youth Wellbeing Index

The ranking of the countries in each domain is shown in the following:

Above figure copied from the Global Youth Wellbeing Index

To have a better idea of the scores in each domain, the following data are also shown. Keep in mind that the Philippines is in the lowest third so its score in each domain lies somewhere between the blue and green bars. It should be noted that in the overall ranking, only 12 countries (the upper third) score above the average. 

Above figure copied from the Global Youth Wellbeing Index

The above are indeed self-explanatory. The above index does have its limitations. The education index, for example, hardly uses any measure of learning outcomes. With scores in international standardized exams, the ranking may be dramatically different. It should be noted that in the current ranking in education, the United States is #3, with only Spain and Australia ranking above.