Youth
Youth is the term used to describe the period between childhood and adulthood. While this may be a fluid definition, it is also used in policy terms to refer to specific age groups. Providing a good environment for young people to grow up, learn and work is a key goal for Europe and for Eurofound – but one that faces particular challenges. Young people have long been an important focus of policy at EU level and this is particularly true today.
Find the latest content on this topic below.
AI is already in use in Europe’s workplaces, but not at the expense of young workers
The rapid adoption of AI over the last few years has prompted debate over whether the technology is weakening employment outcomes for young people. This article examines the evidence across the EU27 by comparing labour market outcomes for young and prime-age workers between 2011 and 2025, while distinguishing actual generative AI use from potential exposure to it.The locked-out generation: Europe’s housing market is failing its young people
In the capital cities of Europe, a quiet but profound decoupling has taken place. For decades, the implicit social contract suggested that as economies grew and young workers entered the labour market, they would eventually secure the keys to their own front doors.The housing struggles of Europe's youth
In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey is joined by Marie Hyland to discuss the latest research on housing issues for Europe’s youth. They explore why property prices and rents have outpaced wages since 2010, leaving many young adults unable to achieve independence.The youth employment rate in the EU is higher than at any time since 2007, and the percentage of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is historically low (11% in 2024). Furthermore, the proportion of discouraged workers among NEET young people is at its lowest recorded level. This represents an improvement compared with the COVID-19 pandemic, during which young people were the hardest hit by job loss, as they were overrepresented in the sectors most impacted by pandemic restrictions and more likely to work on temporary contracts or part time.
There are signs of improvements in job quality for young people, with fewer involuntary temporary contracts, greater perceived job security and better work–life balance than during the pandemic years.
The COVID-19 crisis had a disproportionate impact on young people’s life satisfaction and mental well-being compared to older groups. This improved between spring and summer 2020 when lockdowns eased but dropped to its lowest point in spring 2021 when restrictions and school closures returned, contributing to a decrease in life satisfaction and mental well-being where nearly two-thirds of young people were at risk of depression. Since the pandemic, youth mental well-being improved, albeit to a lesser extent than among older populations.
New findings reveal that a mismatch between aspirations and concrete plans, especially when it comes to finding a job, is associated with a higher risk of depression among young people. Mismatches between wishes and plans are most frequent when it comes to housing: moving out of the parental home or moving in with a partner and buying a house.
Housing is one of the main obstacles to young people becoming independent, with the less financially well-off being less likely to be able to move out of the parental home, putting additional financial strain on the household. Young people living with their parents are most likely to have difficulty making ends meet.
Young people’s trust in institutions overall remains higher than other groups despite being hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis in terms of mental health and employment. It will be important for policymakers to build on this social capital and ensure investment in youth remains at the top of the EU policy agenda.
A wide range of measures were introduced to support young people during the pandemic. These included the reinforced European Youth Guarantee, national initiatives to keep young people in education, and measures to reduce barriers to existing financial support and social protection specifically for young people; however, many of these policy responses were temporary. To ensure greater resilience in future crises, it will be crucial for policymakers to prioritise long-term measures for young people, such as permanent improvements in access to work and apprenticeships and measures to increase job security.
Eurofound Talks
Eurofound has carried out a large body of work on youth issues related to employment, quality of life and social cohesion. Research continues to look at issues affecting young people in several topic areas, particularly employment and labour markets, living conditions and quality of life, as well as access to public services.
Youth employment and issues affecting young people remain high on the EU’s policy agenda. Having already paid the highest toll of the previous recession, it emerged that young people were among the most vulnerable to the severe social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictive measures.
To avoid history repeating itself, in July 2020 the Commission launched a Youth Employment Support package structured around four strands to provide a ‘bridge to jobs’ for the next generation. The Commission put forward a proposal for a Council Recommendation on ‘A Bridge to Jobs – Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee’, to replace the 2013 Recommendation, as a concrete policy instrument to tackle the employment and social consequences of COVID-19. This aims to ensure that all young people under 30 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. This initiative links in with the needs of companies to provide the skills needed, particularly for the green and digital transitions. It extends the age range covered by the Youth Guarantee from age 15–24 to 15–29.
The Youth Employment Support package also includes a proposal on vocational education and training, a renewed impetus for apprenticeships and additional measures to support youth employment.
This initiative builds on previous actions at European level. The Commission’s 2016 Communication ‘Investing in Europe's Youth’ aimed to support young people in the form of a Youth Package. The package supports better opportunities to access employment, via the Youth Guarantee and Youth Employment Initiative launched in 2013, better opportunities through education and training, as well as better opportunities for solidarity, learning mobility and participation.
As part of this effort, the latest EU Youth Strategy (2019–2027), adopted on 26 November 2018, sets out the framework for cooperation with Member States on their youth policies. Activities are grouped into three main areas of action, around the words ‘Engage’, ‘Connect’ and ‘Empower’.
In January 2020, the Commission presented its Communication ‘A strong social Europe for just transitions’. This prepared the way for an Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, which reiterates the EU’s commitment to the Youth Guarantee. The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, proposed by the European Commission in March 2021 and followed by a declaration at the Porto Social Summit in May 2021, introduced new, ambitious targets for young people, such as reducing the rate of young people aged 15–29 who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) from 11% (2024) to 9% by 2030.
European Commission: The reinforced Youth Guaranteeopens in new tab
EUR-Lex: Youth Employment Support: A bridge to jobs for the next generationopens in new tab
European Commission: EU Youth Strategyopens in new tab
European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Planopens in new tab
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
21 May 2024
Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world
During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it had been in recent years, many obstacles remained on their route to independence, such as the rising cost of living and inability to move out of the parental home. This report explores young people’s wishes and plans for the future – and the well-being outcomes related to these plans – in the context of the current labour market and housing situation and progress on the implementation of the EU’s reinforced Youth Guarantee.
6 July 2022
Fifth round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty
The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, inflation, and rising energy prices.
The findings of the e-survey reveal the heavy toll of the pandemic, with respondents reporting lower trust in institutions than at the start of the pandemic, poorer mental well-being, a rise in the level of unmet healthcare needs and an increase in the number of households experiencing energy poverty.
16 December 2021
The impact of COVID-19 on young people in the EU
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23 October 2020
Youth in a time of COVID
Watch the webinar - Being young in the COVID-19 pandemic
3 July 2019
Inequalities in the access of young people to information and support services
In recent years, concerns have been expressed at EU and national level that the combined stresses arising from school, parental expectations and societal pressures can make the transition to adulthood difficult for young people – with the risk of a long-lasting negative impact. One way of easing the transition is to provide appropriate information and support services during these critical life-changing years. However, it appears that not all young people have access to such services. This report describes the characteristics of the young people who face most difficulties in accessing social and health services, the types of services most relevant to them and the main challenges they face in accessing information and support services. It also looks at what service providers can do to ensure they reach young people in need of their support and presents innovative examples of how to tackle inequalities in access to services.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Eszter Sándor
Senior research managerEszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has extensive experience in survey management, including questionnaire design and scripting, data preparation (processing, cleaning, weighting), and statistical analysis using R. She manages Eurofound’s e-survey (Living and working in the EU) and contributes to the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey. Her research focuses on the quality of life of young people and families, including subjective well-being, mental well-being and living conditions.
Before joining Eurofound, she worked as an economic consultant in Scotland, specialising in economic impact assessments, evaluations, and input-output analysis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest.
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