That's why immediately after they release me from the police station, I go directly to the market again. Elena and Vasil are postponing their marriage for several years because they don't have good jobs or enough money to rent an apartment . Jeton and Vezire, a young married couple, cannot afford to have a second child because of financial insecurity. He must sell home appliances in a shop at Skopje's old market. While the economic and political difficulties in Macedonia today hurt almost all citizens, they are felt especially strong by the younger generation - who are the hope and future of this society in transition.
Many young people have few choices and few hopes for a better future.
It often happens that parents are getting their drunk children out of coffeebars and discos. This year, the Bardovci Hospital for Diseases of Addiction in Skopje has treated 150 heroin addicts each day, including two who are only 12 years old. Doctors say there are 2,000 registered heroin addicts but that the true number may soon reach 20,000. Whereas in former Yugoslavia there were many employment opportunities and most people could look forward to working at a good salary upon graduation, today unemployment looms ever larger. The Employment Bureau lists 7,196 unemployed citizens with high education.