IN THE recently published document ‘A Scotland for the Future’ Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work and Opportunity, states: “Scotland’s people are our most valuable resource.

People grow our economy, provide our public services, they teach our next generation, build our communities, and make Scotland the place it is.”

The extensive document details the issues that will face the next generations to build and sustain a strong Scottish economy, the kind of economy we all strive for.

The statistics analysed are thought-provoking.

As with so many Western economies, our population is shrinking.

It is ageing and the birth rate is falling.

Mary Contini

Mary Contini

Not only that, but the health of the population is also such that of the 62 per cent of the population who will be in the tax-producing cohort in 2041, 20 years’ time, it is estimated that one in five are already at some risk of being in long-term unemployment due to poor health trajectory.

These trends, combined with the cumulative inherited debt from the current pandemic, makes for a heavy burden on our earners and taxpayers of the future.

Scotland’s next generation, our ‘youthforce’, will need as much support as we can give them to prepare for and carry the challenges that lie ahead.

The fact that one in four of them already live in poverty and will fail to gain even the necessary basic education to achieve their full potential is a tragic waste of our “valuable human resource”.

In the forthcoming elections, our 16-17-year-olds and young adults will have a vote and a say in choosing the path we all take for our future.

Surely it is our duty to ensure they have all the facts before they can make the choice that is best for their own futures.

Their confidence in the informed decision we take for the way forward is the best chance for us all. It’s they who will hold the purse strings and do all the work!