If OECD members empowered each of their young workers, the overall economy could be over $1 trillion better off.
Recent research by PwC shows that youth participation in the labour market varies dramatically among OECD countries. PwC has compiled a Young Workers Index, which measures how well OECD countries are developing the economic potential of their young workers over time.

The index looks at eight indicators that reflect the education and working patterns of people aged between 15-24 in 35 OECD countries. This includes things like NEET rates (the number of 20-24 year olds not in education, employment or training), various indicators about employment, school drop-out rates and educational employment rates.

Switzerland, Germany and Austria top the list, having the most youth empowerment. The Nordic countries perform strongly with Iceland, Norway and Denmark taking the next three spots.

The Netherlands, Canada, Israel and the United States complete the top 10.

However, in almost a half of all the OECD countries, one in four young people were unemployed for over a year.

Spain, Greece and Italy scored low on the index, in 32nd, 33rd and in last place (35th) place respectively, although most of the southern European economies improved their performance between 2014 and 2015, apart from Italy.
The UK and France came in 21st and 26th respectively.