Is it worth $144 billion to ensure all youth have access to developmental supports and opportunities in those vacuum hours?

Return on investment is a key indicator of the worthiness of any public investment. Prompted by a 1996 report by The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy that compares the costs of incarceration to the savings in the social costs of crime, the Center has attempted a similar calculation for the return on investment for every dollar spent on youth development.

In constructing a framework for our calculation, we must make some assumptions.

Assumption #1: The best we can expect from a young person receiving youth development in principle and practice is a high school diploma, and for this person to live a healthy, productive, responsible and civically engaged life (a very conservative expectation). According to the US Census Bureau, the high school graduate can expect to make an annual salary of $22,895 (versus the $40,478 with a bachelor's degree or $63,229 with an advanced degree).

Assumption #2: Assuming that this preson receives an annual 3% cost of living increase for the next 40 years of employed life, he or she will have earned a salary of $1,726,312 over their employed lifetime. (This figure does not account for demotions or job changes at lower salaries, but shall serve as a working number for this example.) Based on our current tax structure this individual will pay approximately $293,473 in taxes (17% of total income).

Assumption #3: Let's assume that this person spends $1,035,787 (60%) and manages to save $397,052 (23%). That would result in a total of $1,329,260 going back to society before retirement either through taxation or consumer spending.

Our current estimates for the cost of youth development suggest that for twelve years a young person should be the beneficiary of a $36,720 total investment in developmental opportunities and supports ($3,060/year x 12 years). This would be in addition to the $78,768 average cost of a public education ($6,564 x 12 years). (This is not to suggest that there is, or there should be, a difference between youth development and schools. In fact, at "better" schools, youth development is a seamlessly integrated part of the educational experience.)

A Positive Return

Based on this rudimentary (and conservative) example, the return on investment (with no consideration of future value) for providing youth development opportunities and supports to a youth would be $1,213,772 ($1,329,260 - $115,488). An investment of $2.55/hour per youth for 1,200 hours per year to develop youth into economically and socially viable adults plus a developmental education can result in a gain of $10.51 for everyy dollar invested.

One final and important note on this rudimentary example is that it calculates only the tangible benefits of an economically and socially viable adult. It is more difficult to calculate other benefits society gains from adults who contribute time and service to nurturing healthy families and communities.