ASEAN Youths Emerge From The Pandemic More Resilient, Adaptive & Creative, Reveals The WEF

• Survey of more than 68,500 youths in the ASEAN region reveals unprecedented acceleration of digital adoption
• Lack of digital skills and inadequacy of quality and affordable internet connection were found as the most binding constraints
• Funding shortage is a problem and greater support is needed, particularly for youths in the gig economy and for entrepreneurs.
• The need for better budgeting and emergency savings topped key learnings from social distancing, while women typically learned more from the experience than men.
• View the full results and analysis of the ASEAN Youth Survey here

Geneva, Switzerland, 23 July 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions, putting ASEAN youths to a tough test. ASEAN youths exhibited signs of strong resilience, adaptability and creativity during the pandemic; their potential has, however, been limited by a lack of digital skills, inadequate digital infrastructure and funding shortages, finds the World Economic Forum’s ASEAN Youth Survey 2020.

Going digital permanently
In this survey, conducted in collaboration with Sea, 68,574 ASEAN citizens aged between 16 and 35, 87% increased their usage of at least one digital tool during the pandemic and 42% of youths starting using at least one new digital tool. Throughout ASEAN, 33% of entrepreneurs took greater advantage of e-commerce opportunities. Of those, one-in-four used it for the first time. The survey’s results confirm that ASEAN’s youths will likely continue using many digital tools beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Becoming more resilient, adaptive and creative
A significant number of those surveyed showed resilience and adaptability during the pandemic. A total of 48% said that they learned to be more resilient and felt better prepared for future uncertainties. Many also reported having learnt to think more creatively, and found new business models and ways to improve their income during the pandemic.

Continuing growth mindset and lifelong learning, particularly women
A total of 41% reported having learned new skills during the social distancing. Online education boomed not only among full-time students, but also workers, confirming ASEAN youths’ strong aspiration for lifelong learning and underlining their general growth mindset. Of those surveyed, 64% of full-time students and 38% workers said they used online education tools more actively during the pandemic.
Notably, women tended to learn more skills during the period. Some 63% reported learning how to better prioritize spending compared to 53% of men, while 44% of women said they’d learned new skills compared to 39% of men.

To fill the region’s digital skills gap, the ASEAN Digital Skills Vision 2020 pledge programme under the Forum’s Digital ASEAN Initiative will continue to gather collective pledges to fulfil eight digital skills training targets for ASEAN’s small and medium-sized enterprise workers, students, regulators and the region’s wider citizens. To date, 23 organizations have committed to the pledge and in doing so, will train more than 16 million people in digital skills by the end of this year.

Challenged by a lack of digital skills, inadequate digital infrastructure and funding shortages
A total of 69% ASEAN youths found remote working and studying during the COVID-19 pandemic a challenge, including 7% who said it was impossible. A lack of digital skills and inadequacy/unavailability of quality and affordable internet connection were cited as the most binding constraints.

19% of respondents reported a lack of funding as a key constraint. Among them, entrepreneurs and youths in the gig economy faced the greatest funding constraints and needed more external funding sources. Only 33% of those who faced funding constraints said they relied more on bank loans, while 31% relied on government support and 23% turned to online financing. Some 14% had to turn to informal financing.

“The Forum supports data-driven policy-making and the survey was originally designed to offer statistical insights towards understanding ASEAN youth’s perspectives and to contribute to shaping policies for ASEAN youths,” said Joo-Ok Lee, Head of Asia Pacific, World Economic Forum. “The insight from this calls for timely multistakeholder actions to empower ASEAN youth with much needed digital skills, improving digital infrastructure and sufficient funding to capitalize the unprecedented digital transformation brought by the pandemic and realize their potential for the region’s inclusive and sustainable recovery.”

“Our analysis has shown that digitalization has become a necessity rather than a luxury and will play a crucial role in supporting young entrepreneurs and consumers during economic recovery. It is crucial that the public and private sectors come together to raise digital literacy for everyone to ensure that no one is left behind during these challenging times,” said Dr Santitarn Sathirathai, Group Chief Economist, Sea.

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