Individual perceptions on the participant and societal functionality of non-formal education for youth: Explaining differences across countries based on the human development index

•I analyze participant and societal functionality of non-formal education.•I examine the relatedness of the HDI with local perceptions on functionality.•The international scouts and guides movement is focused on.•Societal functionality is lower in high HDI countries.•Participant functionality is not relate to the HDI of a country.

The aim of this study is to explore the extent that country-level developmental characteristics can explain perceived functionalities of local non-formal education. A literature-based distinction is made between participant functionality (inward focused) and societal functionality (outward focuses) of non-formal education. An empirical test is conducted for the international scouts and guides movement based on a sample of 2735 respondents from 68 countries. The results of a multi-level regression analysis suggest a crowding-out relationship between developmental capacity, quantified by the human development index (HDI), and societal functionality. In contrast, participant functionality remains constant despite differences between countries for the HDI.