A multidimensional analysis of youth well-being

The phase of the life cycle of youth is characterised by a series of opportunities and challenges: the choice of whether or not to continue studying, the employment opportunities, the influence of the area and the social and relational context in which they live, the community and the role of institutions. The potential risks lurking in these transitions can have life-long effects on their well-being conditions. Following the methodological approach proposed by the OECD to calculate the Youth Multi-dimensional Deprivation Indicator (Y-MDI) (Oecd, 2017), in this study the well-being of young people is measured through the construction of a multi-deprivation indicator, similar in the calculation method, but different in the selection of relevant dimensions and indicators. The concept of deprivation is here understood, in line with the capability approach defined by Sen (Sen, 1998), such as the failure to achieve a plurality of factors (individual and context) acting in determining the well-being of young people. The approach proposed provides a synthetic (and easily representative) tool for the evaluation and monitoring of youth well-being, based on the conceptual framework of Equitable and Sustainable Well-being (Bes) developed in Italy by Istat (Istat, 2019). Overall, slightly less than half of the young people aged 18-34 years (47.8%) show no deprivation, while one out of three (33.5%) is deprived in one dimension of well-being and 18.7% (slightly less than 2 million young people) is multi-deprived, i.e. deprived in two or more dimensions.