There has been no progress in the areas of wellbeing, access to rights and quality of living for young people since 2018, according to the Youth Progress Index, presented by the European Youth Forum on Wednesday (18 October).
Young people face many challenges when moving from childhood to adulthood, President of the European Youth Forum María Rodríguez Alcázar told the presentation event at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels.
“There are other barriers, other challenges, that we are facing just because of the times we are living. For example, the pandemic that we just experienced a couple of years ago, but also the climate crisis, the challenges and the threats to our democracy, to the civic space, the digital revolution,” Rodríguez Alcázar explained.
The Youth Progress Index is a comprehensive country-by-country analysis of the quality of life of young people worldwide, intending to address the “pressing needs of young people, remove barriers to their wellbeing, and provide resources needed to shape a fairer society”.
Comparisons are made between countries with similar economic performance and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, taking into account the political specificities of each, to provide meaningful results.
The overall score is based on the assessment of the “country’s performance in three key dimensions: basic human needs, foundation of wellbeing, and opportunity,” the Index’s website explains.
New data shows that Europe has improved very little in the area of youth development since 2011, with the situation essentially flatlining since 2018.
The United Kingdom, together with France, New Zealand, Australia and South Sudan are among the countries that did not make any progress in the last decade, while the whole European continent is the second worst worldwide after North America.
The event in Bozar focused not only on the presentation of the Index, but also on exploring the reasons why Europe – alongside many other places worldwide – is stagnating when it comes to measures to improve the quality of life for young people.
EU and young people
The year 2022 was the European Year of Youth, as announced by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her speech in September 2021 while delivering her annual State of the Union speech.
Since most of the competence on social affairs and education are under national legislation, despite the EU organising events, dialogue and different initiatives for young people, there is only a small margin of action for concrete legislation that targets Europe’s youth.
The European Parliament, for instance, periodically organises a large event dedicated to young people, the European Youth Event, in which delegates can speak directly with EU lawmakers.
On 11 October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) went one step further, opening their doors to young people as part of the ‘EU Youth Test’.
According to their website, the EU Youth Test is an “impact assessment tool which ensures that young people are considered when the EU is deciding on new policies and law”.
The EESC is an EU institution, which is an advisory body to the European Commission when elaborating legislative proposals.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
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