1 |National Youth Assessment Study 2010

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2010 YOUTH STUDY:

The Situation from the Perspective of the Youth

RA 8044 mandates the National Youth Commission (NYC) to conduct a national youth study aimed to determine the current condition and situation of the Filipino youth. As a process, this study will be one of the bases in the formulation of the Philippine Youth Development Plan (PYDP) 2011-2016. Specifically, the primary objective of the 2010 National Youth Assessment study is to conduct a situational analysis on the socio-economic characteristics, vulnerabilities and other issues confronting the youth. In addition, it also aims to identify issues and attitudes on youth participation and volunteerism. Five thousand eight hundred fifty (5,850) young Filipinos aged 15-30 years old from 17 Regions of the country (urban and rural) served as respondents of the study. They were classified according to the four (4) youth sub-sectors: out-of-school youth (OSY); (SYG). in-school youth (ISY); working youth (WY); and specific youth groups

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Findings (Per objective)

A. To conduct a situational analysis on the socio economic characteristics, vulnerabilities, and other issues confronting the youth sector

1. Education
26 % of the 15-17 years bracket up to 48% (25-30 years old) and 39-48% of age groups 18-24 and 25-30 had to drop out of school due to financial hardships. 7-8% of all ages dropped out of school after becoming drug dependent 76% of the Out of School Youth would like to go to school if given the chance 60% of age-group 15-17 dropping to 50% for age-group 2530 claim they could have been more active in school if they could speak better English Computer literacy ranges from 40-50% at the highest level (always/very often) over the three age groups

2. Employment
46% of age 25-30 think their work is NOT relevant to their education and training 32.6% of the youth respondents who are not currently employed also preferred to work abroad The core youth 18-24 years old are the most keen to seek employment overseas (59.6%) followed by 53.1% of the young youth (15-17 years) and 58.6% of young adult (2530 years) indicated that they too prefer to work abroad because of higher pay. Majority of the youth (57%) desire to work abroad because of higher pay. And this preference is felt in both urban (57.8%) and rural (56.0%) areas. 84.2% of the youth respondents agreed that migration of youth workers takes place within and outside the country because of limited opportunities to earn a living

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73.9% of the youth feel that on the whole OFW phenomenon is not healthy for family stability despite its economic advantage Major Activities in preparing/finding for a job are: Participating in career planning (60.5%); Attending Personality Development Seminars (59.5%); Undergoing Skills Training (57.9%); Keeping self healthy and fit (54.3%); and Attending Job fairs and industry updates (54.2%) 18 to 21% from all age groups answered said that theyre on the streets most of the time as it is their home and source of livelihood 54.4% of the respondents agree that the youth have entrepreneurial skills but they lack collateral for loans to start a business

3. Health and Wellness

Health information campaigns and user-friendly health services and facilities for adolescents and youth should be available to reduce risky behavior among young people (82%) 45-49% of all ages think that the substance of the reproductive health bill should be taught in elementary school while 74-79% think that it should be taught in high school 38% of 15-17 year-olds, 44% of 18-24 year-old and 41% of 25-30 age group think early sexual encounter is acceptable in todays society High incidence of early sexual encounter involving younger age groups (15-17). In terms of youth sector, the in-school youth (49.8%) exhibited the highest percentage of agreement. Second are the youth with special needs (45.7%) followed by working youth (43.4%) and lastly the out-of-school youth (41.8%) 51.4 % of the survey respondents agree and 30.2% strongly agree that health services should be made available to the youth to protect them from acquiring HIV and STIs

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Most families, particularly low-income groups, do not get proper nutrition and the most affected are the children and youth. Their health and academic performance are affected by having low grades and eventually disinterest to finish studies. The problem of having proper and adequate nutrition is rooted in low and irregular income, high cost of goods, and large family size. Many of the youth claimed that what makes them happy are family, friends, and girlfriend/ boyfriend, the order of which changes according to circumstances. They are happy to have friends with whom they can open up about their joys and difficulties. 73% believe that the youth resort to substance abuse to escape from their desperate situation

4. Family income and expenditures

83.3% of the youth wants to extend financial assistance to their families. Expectedly the most contributors are the working youth (85.1%) The 91.2%of the youth are interested to find a job that can support family needs 51.1% receive allowance. More youth in the younger age group 15-17 receive allowance (66.9%) followed by 18-24 age bracket (48.1%). Across age brackets, 45.2% of the youth strongly agree and 47% agree that the youth are in need of financial planning skills
85.7% of the youth across all age brackets make it a point to save money, time, and other available resources. Most conscious savers (86.4%) are the core youth (18-24 years).

The strong interest of the youth in achieving economic independence is shown in the apparent stability of their response on the five (5) approaches/activities. The method they prefer most is Saving money and resources, 85.7%; followed by Identifying and improving their talents that can make them economically independent, 85.6%; and Gaining new knowledge and updates on economic trends
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5. Leisure
64.6% of the respondents across age bracket are in social networking in whatever form. Internet is also attractive to the youth for computer gaming (48.7%). Playing computer games and on-line gaming is usually done by the young youth aged 15-17 years old (51.8%) followed by 18-24 years old (49.8%). 52% of 15-17 year-olds and 50% of 18-25 years old, dropping to 37% of 25-30 years old play computer games 66% of 15-17 age group dropping to 52% of 25-30 age group use social networking sites 77.9% are in agreement that the internet is hazardous to health and addictive 58.7% of the respondents indicated that they share stories and do social drinking with friends. They also engage in ball games and sports competitions (59%). The young youth, 15-17 aged are the most number of those indulged in ballgames (63.1%), followed by the core youth, 18-24 aged. 49.6% of the respondents across age brackets join groups, music band, and hip-hop dancing

6. Cross- cutting findings

Citizenship 92% of respondents say they are proud to be Filipinos.

Politics The young people believe that corruption is the major cause of poverty in the Philippines (90%).

Perception of Government Service Delivery

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The majority of the youth feel that agencies that provide services for the youth need to improve on their performance to meet their expectations (84%).

Concerns of Specific Youth Groups 12-15% of all ages claim to have experienced being abused or exploited. 12-14% of all ages claim that their lives are disrupted because of armed conflicts with warring groups.

Relationships 75% of ages 15-17 are looking for a healthy boy-girl relationship; it rises to 85% for the 25-30 year-olds. 19% of 15-17 year-olds and 27% of 25-30 year-olds think that same sex relationships are accepted in society. 57-62% across the age groups thinks that lesbians, homosexuals and trans-genders are now accepted in Philippine society 49-55% of all ages think that divorce should be made legal.

Life Skills 55% believe they have high self-esteem. Their weakest life skills are those that require use of resources, such as in: business talents, product creativity, and computer literacy

B. To identify issues and attitudes on youth participation and volunteerism

39.9% of the 15-17 age group claim that they never vote during elections while only 35.2% always vote. Youth respondents from 18-24 and 25-30 age groups have high percentages for always voting with 60.6% and 68.2% respectively. During elections, 52.3% of the youth always vote during elections and 11.4% very often vote.
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74-78% of all ages think that political dynasties should be made illegal. 68% indicated that their participation in political matters is that of a follower and 62% said that they seldom act as the leader-initiator of resolutions Only 1 out of 4 youth indicated that they are protest-initiators or activists in political issues, the majority (89%) of the young people feel that they have to be informed, involved, and consulted by adults and youth leaders on matters related to youth development. Participation in the family, school and their organizations is characterized by more control on those decisions that refer to their individual needs and less control on those that involve family budget. In the family, they have more control of their choice of friends, in the management of their time and in their choice of girlfriend/ boyfriend, but less control on the amount of their allowances, choice of leisure time and religious affiliation In school, they have more control of decisions involving participation in extra-curricular activities, the choice of course to take and when to finish college but not on school policies. More than two-thirds of the youth has not been member of any youth organization. Only about one-third of the youth would volunteer in community service in times of emergency. that there are more rural youth (35.2%) than urban youth (33.1%) who join projects for clean and safe environment but there are more urban youth (37.2%) than rural youth (33.5%) who support advocacies for environment protection. 86% of the youth feel they have the right and responsibility to know about the available programs, services, and mandate of agencies, GOs, NGOs, church-based organizations, and other institutions that could help improve their conditions

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