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Sections » Society » General
  • ©Reuters/Andrea Comas

    Spain’s youth unemployment lessons

    Few countries have suffered the scourge of high youth unemployment as much as Spain has. There, the unemployment rate for under 25-year-olds exceeded 50% in 2012, nearly three times the OECD average. However, the crisis has not been the only cause of this; in fact, high rates of youth unemployment are not a recent phenomenon in Spain.

    (345 words)
  • ©Blend images/Alamy

    Can youth entrepreneurship work?

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin were young doctoral students when they created the company we now know as Google. Virgin’s Richard Branson started out in business as a teenager selling records. These big names are just part of a long list of young entrepreneurs that made it in business, a list that could include the founders of Facebook, e-Bay, France’s Free telecom and more.

    (633 words)
  • Click to enlarge

    Not so patient

    Patients in most OECD countries face long hospital waiting times, whether for primary care, out-patient specialist care or even emergency care. Tax payers rightly expect better service, and hospital waiting times are understandably a contentious political issue.

    (210 words)
  • Lessons for educators

    What are the key issues to know when devising better policies for education or simply trying to improve learning programmes? Here are some personal reflections.

    1. In the global economy, the benchmark for educational success is no longer merely improvement by local or national standards, but the best performing education systems internationally. 

    More...

  • ©Guri Dahl/Scanpix–Office of the Prime Minister

    Meeting our challenges

    How can we increase employment and strengthen social cohesion? The prime minister of Norway argues that we need urgent action to ensure that an entire generation of young people remains connected to the labour market. We must also address the issue of income distribution to protect the vulnerable and guarantee greater equality of opportunity across our societies.

    More... 

    (60 words)
  • ©Vanderlei Almeida/AFP

    Growth is not enough

    Brazil’s labour leaders have long argued against pursuing economic growth for its own sake. What matters most, they believe, is not the size of the economic pie but how it’s carved up. In recent years, calls for social justice have increasingly informed policy in Brazil, bringing about a veritable “revolution” in the economy.

    More...

  • Action for youth

    The current crisis has continued to affect people’s lives across the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in the deteriorating labour market in many countries. Young people have been hit particularly hard and risk being permanently scarred from joblessness and even exclusion.

    (856 words)
  • ©Norwegian government

    It’s all about people

    Ultimately the economic crisis is about people, says Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs. That is why respecting human rights and adherence to democratic principles are fundamental when addressing the current economic crisis. We are in this together, so we need multilateral solutions more than ever.

    (975 words)
  • Education for all

    Young people from poorer families are badly underrepresented in higher education. That risks exposing them to a lifetime of reduced earnings and undermines the foundations of wider economic growth. What can be done? Economically disadvantaged students benefit from a mix of grants and loans in third-level education, but they also need better support from the earliest years of their school careers.

    More...

  • Today is IDAHO Day

    This year the parliaments of two OECD member countries passed legislation broadening the institution of marriage to include same sex couples. Such marriage is now legal in 14 countries worldwide, 11 of which are OECD members.

    (211 words)
  • ©Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

    The cost of mistrust

    Trust is at the heart of today’s complex global economy. But, paradoxically, trust is also in increasingly short supply in many of our societies, especially in our attitudes towards big business, parliaments and governments. This decline threatens our capacity to tackle some of today’s key challenges.

    More...

  • ©DR

    The new performance frontier

    By helping emphasise the importance of a “better life” as a key component of societal progress, the OECD has made considerable efforts in recent years to help promote a school of thought that places people’s well-being at the heart of economic growth. After examining the issue of growth and productivity gains, and recognising the question of the environmental cost of our economic activity, the time has come to turn our attention to another area that is equally crucial: fostering a more human economy.

    More ...

  • ©DR

    Trusting in crowds

    “Crowdsourcing” pools the strength of the many to perform complex tasks–everything from funding a film to sequencing DNA. At its heart is trust–not a blanket belief in great institutions, but rather the confidence among individuals that each will do the right thing. Its power is being increasingly felt today, even in the world of international development.

    More...

  • ©Charlotte Moreau

    Homo Economicus: An uncertain guide

    As humans, we face a constant internal conflict between immediate gratification and more prudent living. This conflict is also apparent in society. How can we ensure that the homo economicus within us takes the decisions that best affect our lives, and economies?

    More...

    (43 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Mike Segar

    Well-being priority

    A major step forward towards putting the measurement of well-being at the heart of policymaking was taken at the OECD’s World Forum on Measuring Well-Being for Policymaking and Development, a four-day international conference held in New Delhi in October.

    (297 words)
  • Asia’s information revolution

    The rise of IT and the Internet have been boons to Asia, but not everyone has benefited. There are challenges to overcome, not least in the area of governance.

    (967 words)
  • ©Blogads

    Beyond blogonomics

    In 2002 Henry Copeland, chief of Blogads and Pressflex.com, wrote about how blogs, largely unknown at the time, would change web writing and publishing forever. He was right. Then in 2008 in these pages, he told us to bet on Twitter several months before it took off (the OECD opened its first accounts in April 2009). So where is the information world taking us now? Henry provides some fresh thoughts.

    (645 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Amr Dalsh

    News that’s fit to post

    The media is changing, but must assume a leading role in the unfolding narrative of the information world. That includes building trust and involving new voices in the discussion.

    (909 words)
  • ©REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud

    How the world wide web was won

    Did you know that the organisation that brought you the Higgs Boson (“god particle”) also brought you the world wide web? Robert Cailliau, one of its founders, and James Gillies, a first-hand witness, retrace the story.

    (1416 words)
  • ©Tim Wimborne/Reuters

    Managing information and communications in a fast-changing world

    People create policy, but underpinning their work, and in some ways hidden from view, is a well-developed, smart information and communications infrastructure. It is a fundamental driver of progress.

    (697 words)
  • Information society: Which way now?

    The future will be inherently knowledge-based. Are we moving in the right direction? What must we know to be able to get there? Understanding knowledge-based capital is an important first step.

    (686 words)
  • ©Christian Charisius

    Education for policymakers

    Education is one OECD department that has embraced the information revolution.

    (250 words)
  • The changing art of language

    Translators are at the forefront of global communications and knowledge. Yet their work has not always been helped by the information revolution. Here are the challenges.

    (1103 words)
  • Can big data deliver on its promise?

    Did you know that, according to the UN Global Pulse, more data was created in 2011 than in the whole of human history, or at least, since the invention of the alphabet?

    (532 words)
  • Click to enlarge

    Take a walk

    Cities that want healthier populations should get them moving. In the US, where urban sprawl and personal motorised vehicle are prevalent, walking makes up only 8.6% of all trips, by far the lowest proportion in our chart.

    (217 words)
  • ©Tomas Bravo/Reuters

    Face to Facebook with civil society

    Democracy is a good thing; transparency is too, and so is openness. Nothing too controversial in this statement, you might think. The veil of ignorance is slowly but steadily being lifted from the eyes of the general public across the world thanks to thriving media, innovation in global communications and the pressure on governments to open up and reach out.

    (1042 words)
  • A calm look at social unrest

    In a globalised world, social unrest occurring far away can have transnational ramifications, with effects nearer to home. This has been evident in recent years with movements such as Occupy and Indignados, and the Arab Spring. Unrest could also be the consequence of a terrorist attack, but even the threat of one can lead to widespread panic. The upshot can be disorder and economic turmoil.

    (346 words)
  • ©Larry Downing/Reuters

    Policymaking and the information revolution

    The OECD Observer is celebrating its 50th anniversary: no better time than to turn our focus to the currency of information itself.

    (2221 words)
  • ©Charles Platiau/Reuters

    Trading in facts

    Getting information and communications “right” has always been a necessary condition for delivering sound policy advice; today, there are many more possibilities to generate and to share evidence-based policy insights, but there are also many more competing messages and messengers. Here are two examples.

    (328 words)
  • Africa.radio

    Though mobile technology is making waves in Africa, airwaves still count.

    (644 words)
  • ©Saatchi&Saatchi

    Ad sense

    Politicians have long called on the services of public relations firms, design experts and advertising agencies to help them communicate. What impact do they have, and how has their role changed? We asked one of the very biggest in the business, Saatchi & Saatchi, for some insights.

    (977 words)
  • Changing world of migration

    While there has been progress in immigrant integration on many fronts, much remains to be done. The crisis has rolled back progress in some countries, so catching up is still the name of the game. Better policies mean better outcomes. The future depends on it, says the OECD.

    See www.oecd.org/migration

    ©OECD Observer No 293 Q4 November 2012

  • ©Jim Young/Reuters

    Obama vs. Romney: Is it the economy, stupid?

    Are you able to make sense of the barrage of opinion poll data that is currently being published in the lead up to the US presidential election on 6 November? Bruce Stokes, Director of Pew Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center, sheds light on the poll trends and assesses to what extent issues such as the economy will be deciding factors when voters approach the ballot box.

    (294 words)
  • Saving retirement

    Over the next 50 years, life expectancy at birth is expected to increase by more than seven years in developed economies. While this is good news for many, it will also be a strain on pension systems. To be sure, governments will need to address increasing life expectancy by raising retirement ages gradually. This is a key conclusion of the first Pensions Outlook 2012, a new OECD report which looks at the future of pensions.

    (344 words)
  • ©CEP

    Why measure subjective well-being?

    The search for measures of progress that might replace GDP is a timely and necessary one, but only a single metric will do the trick. 

    (1156 words)
  • ©Darren Whiteside/REUTERS

    The conflict between generations: Fact or fiction?

    Expect the issue of solidarity between generations to become a major policy challenge in the years ahead, and not just in OECD countries. Here’s why. 

    (1295 words)
  • The hurting middle class

    The middle class has long been the backbone of prosperity and economic stability in developed countries. But the crisis is exert increasing pressure on this pillar of society. Does the middle class need saving?

    (952 words)
  • CleanGovBiz: A new push against corruption

    The OECD’s CleanGovBiz Initiative helps governments fight corruption, while working with civil society and the private sector to promote integrity.

    (709 words)
  • ©OECD

    The OECD Gender Initiative: Overview

    Regrettably, gender discrimination is still a problem in our societies and our economies. In fact, “problem” is far too weak a word. It is more accurate to speak of an unacceptable injustice. Women have fewer opportunities in terms of education, employment and entrepreneurship and are, on average, less well paid for their work. 

    (275 words)
  • New times, old perspectives?

    The long road towards gender equality has arrived at greater educational attainment, higher female labour force participation, and advances in politics and business, but we haven’t reached the end yet. 

    (387 words)
  • ©Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

    Tackling poverty and inequality

    Some 16.3 million Brazilians (8.5% of the population) live on less than $1.50 per day, which by most international definitions indicates extreme poverty. However, thanks to the efforts of successive governments, including that of the current president, Dilma Rousseff, the country has made tremendous progress in reducing that poverty and tackling income inequality too. 

    (753 words)
  • Tackling inequality

    The average income of the richest 10% of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10%, up from seven times what it was 25 years ago. Even in more egalitarian countries, such as Germany and Sweden, the earnings of the richest are over six times higher than those of the poorest, compared with just over three in 1985. Inequality has narrowed in countries like Chile and Mexico, though the income gap between rich and poor is still 27 to 1, and in Brazil, which as this edition shows has implemented impressive programmes against poverty and inequality, the gap stands at 50 to 1. Clearly, the benefits of economic growth have not trickled down or been fairly distributed. 

    (738 words)
  • Protecting women's work

    Half the world’s workforce, 1.5 billion working women and men, are in vulnerable employment. The global economic crisis has swelled the ranks of those whose jobs do not provide enough to meet basic needs, the “working poor”, by more than 100 million people, mainly women.

    (981 words)
  • ©Mark Armstrong

    A global safety net

    In October 2011, a high-level panel headed by the former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, delivered a ground-breaking report to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, arguing that everyone around the globe should receive a living income, guaranteed through transfers in cash or in kind, such as pensions for the elderly and persons with disabilities, child benefits, income support benefits and/or employment guarantees, and services for the unemployed and working poor. Martin Hirsch, a member of that panel, explains why this proposal for a more socially responsible globalisation can work. 

    (894 words)
  • Martine Durand

    Martine Durand ©OECD

    Progress: from compass to global positioning system

    For most of the last century, progress in the conditions of our societies was often assessed through the compass of economic growth, or GDP. In recent years, however, both governments and citizens have come to recognise that GDP provides only a partial view of today’s economic and social conditions and of whether these conditions can be expected to last in the future. Better indicators are needed that take into account sustainability, equity and quality of life.

    (1007 words)
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    R.T.Erdogan ©M.Azakir/Reuters

    Leading by example

    Turkey’s efforts in the struggle against poverty and income inequality have met with much success. Today, the country stands out as a model in the region and beyond. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discusses these achievements and the country’s role in international co-operation. 

    (1216 words)
  • Peggy Hollinger

    Peggy Hollinger

    A hollowing middle class

    In many countries, the middle class is feeling squeezed, and the crisis has only made matters worse. What is behind this sentiment and what can be done to reverse it?

    (1129 words)
  • Danilo Türk

    Danilo Türk ©UPRS

    The time for change

    The current 30-year cycle of deregulation and uncompromising belief in the “invisible hand” of the market is coming to an end.
    This is happening amid a serious financial and economic crisis that is often compared with the Great Depression of the 1930s. Civil unrest is spreading.

    (791 words)
  • Peggy Hollinger

    Peggy Hollinger

    A hollowing middle class

    In many countries, the middle class is feeling squeezed, and the crisis has only made matters worse. What is behind this sentiment and what can be done to reverse it?

    (1098 words)
  • Acting on gender


    ©OECD

    (110 words)
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NOTE: All signed articles in the OECD Observer express the opinions of the authors
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