Why should countries invest in human capital? Can early health care and education prepare children to succeed and prosper as adults in a rapidly changing world? What are the barriers to nurturing human capital, and how can countries overcome them? Find out why the World Bank, countries, and partners are coming together to try to close the massive human capital gap in the world today.

Before that, let us know how to convey that the nature of work is changing and what sector governments can do to prepare and support their workforce.

Why Should Countries Invest in Human Capital?

Human capital is an asset consisting of the knowledge and skills held by a person that can be used by an organization to advance its goals. Numerous pathways and threads link human capital and growth. Investing in human capital affects productivity; productivity affects growth and growth feeds back to human capital opportunities. Yes, Investing in human capital increases not only associated productivity but also increases loyalty.

Early Health Care and Education Prepare Children to Succeed

Today millions of people around the world continue to suffer in poverty. Data and technology can enable governments to bring better services such as health and education to widen opportunities for all. Did you know the available insights on brain development have implications for investments in learning and skill formation? Also, research says, teaching strategies can deeply influence how students approach challenges in and out of school

Moreover, human capital is a broad concept, which includes not only education and training but also many other aspects of individual human development.

Such as:

1. Medical care

2. Early childhood interventions

3. Intergenerational mobility

Instead of investing in human capital (health, skills, knowledge, experience, and habits), governments in pursuit of economic growth love to invest in physical capital (new roads, beautiful bridges, gleaming airports, and other infrastructure). This negatively impacts the country and dramatically weakens the country.

Governments must invest In Human Caption

More and more population in developing countries is demanding better health care and education. When politicians and bureaucrats fail to deliver, poor people suffer the most. The best way to empower people to demand the service they deserve is “transparency.” The World Bank Group invests in human capital for many countries in terms of lost productivity of the next generation of workers. It matters a lot for people, economies, societies, and global stability.

Still, now, the World Bank has been working with countries through its Human Capital Project to increase such investments, including in health, which is currently as low as 3 % of some countries’ budgets. Also, the White House has been briefed on a proposal to develop a way to identify early signs of changes in people with mental illness that could lead to violent behavior. So, no need to worry anymore about the future since the government is taking effective steps.

Linking with Context

A. Human Capital Theory < https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/human-capital-theory/ >.

B. Economics for Beginners Series < https://mises.org/economics-beginners/ >.

C. Progress in Medicine is Facing a Paradox < https://www.oecd-forum.org/posts/50165-progress-in-medicine-is-facing-a-paradox/ >.

D. Human Capital Index < https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/human-capital-index/ >.