Commission staff working document - Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Youth : Investing and Empowering - EU Youth Report {COM(2009) 200} {SEC(2009) 545} {SEC(2009) 546} {SEC(2009) 548}
Date: 2009-04-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU statistics, action programme, education policy, employment policy, exchange of information, vocational training, young person, youth employment, youth policy

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 27.4.2009 
SEC(2009) 549 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying document to the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Youth - Investing and Empowering 

EU YOUTH REPORT 

{COM(2009) 200} 
{SEC(2009) 545} 
{SEC(2009) 546} 
{SEC(2009) 548} 

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying document to the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Youth - Investing and Empowering 

EU YOUTH REPORT 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................7 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

1.3. 

2. 

DEMOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................10 

Close to 100 million young people live in the European Union.................................10 

Changes in the working population ............................................................................10 

Youth immigration and mobility ................................................................................11 

TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO EMPLOYMENT.....................................14 

2.1. 

Education ....................................................................................................................14 

2.1.1.  Longer schooling for children ....................................................................................16 

2.1.2.  Choosing paths after compulsory schooling...............................................................16 

2.1.3.  Educational orientation and early transition to work..................................................17 

2.1.4.  Gender differences in upper secondary education......................................................17 

2.1.5.  More students in the knowledge triangle....................................................................17 

2.1.6.  An emerging gender gap in tertiary studies................................................................18 

2.1.7.  Older students .............................................................................................................18 

2.1.8.  Learning foreign languages ........................................................................................19 

2.1.9. 

Increased mobility, but not for everyone ....................................................................19 

2.1.10.  The level of education: a comparison between generations .......................................21 

2.1.11.  Early school leavers ....................................................................................................21 

2.1.12.  Parents' education and academic success ...................................................................23 

2.1.13.  Public financial support in accessing higher education..............................................24 

2.1.14.  Youth participation in non-formal education .............................................................24 

2.2. 

From school to work...................................................................................................26 

2.2.1.  Activity rates...............................................................................................................26 

2.2.2.  Who are the young economically inactive people? ....................................................28 

2.2.3.  Off the beaten paths: away from education and activity ............................................28 

2.2.4.  Transition between education and work takes place mainly between 18 and 24 .......28 

2.2.5.  The higher the level of education, the lower the risk of unemployment ....................29 

2.2.6.  Diplomas – no guarantee for employment..................................................................30 

2.2.7.  Young people in unemployment.................................................................................31 

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2.2.8.  Long term youth unemployment ................................................................................32 

2.2.9.  Working while studying, studying while working .....................................................33 

2.2.10.  Temporary contracts ...................................................................................................34 

2.2.11.  Part-time work ............................................................................................................35 

2.2.12.  Young entrepreneurs...................................................................................................35 

2.2.13.  Focus of activity .........................................................................................................36 

2.3. 

Young people and social exclusion ............................................................................37 

2.3.1.  Unequal access to opportunities .................................................................................37 

2.3.2.  Living conditions ........................................................................................................37 

2.3.3.  Young people at risk of poverty .................................................................................38 

3. 

ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP ............................................................................................41 

3.1. 

Citizenship and participation ......................................................................................41 

3.1.1.  Active citizenship: today’s choices, the life of tomorrow’s community ....................41 

3.1.2. 

Information: the key to participation? ........................................................................41 

3.1.3.  Youth Participation.....................................................................................................41 

3.1.4.  A decline in traditional membership of organisations ................................................42 

3.1.5. 

Interest in participative democracy.............................................................................44 

3.1.6.  Legal framework for participation structures .............................................................44 

3.1.7.  Youth councils ............................................................................................................45 

3.1.8.  Youth parliaments.......................................................................................................45 

3.1.9.  Other participatory structures .....................................................................................46 

3.1.10.  Youth interest in politics.............................................................................................46 

3.1.11.  Participation by young people in the mechanisms of representative democracy .......48 

3.1.12.  Promoting participation through the European Union................................................49 

3.1.13.  Trust in institutions .....................................................................................................50 

3.2. 

Voluntary activities.....................................................................................................51 

3.2.1.  Older generations are more active in voluntary activities ..........................................52 

3.2.2.  Youth and voluntary activities: more advocacy than practise ....................................52 

3.2.3.  Obstacles.....................................................................................................................54 

3.2.4. 

Initiating voluntary projects at the European level.....................................................54 

4. 

LIFESTYLES .............................................................................................................56 

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4.1. 

Family life...................................................................................................................56 

4.1.1.  General trends .............................................................................................................56 

4.1.2.  Leaving the parental home..........................................................................................57 

4.1.3.  Reasons for staying at home longer than before.........................................................58 

4.1.4.  Household composition ..............................................................................................58 

4.1.5.  Marital status of young people ...................................................................................60 

4.1.6.  Becoming a parent ......................................................................................................62 

4.1.7.  More babies born outside marriage ............................................................................64 

4.2. 

Youth and Health........................................................................................................66 

4.2.1.  Young people expect to live longer ............................................................................68 

4.2.2.  Young Europeans perceive themselves as healthy .....................................................68 

4.2.3.  Young people and their weight...................................................................................68 

4.2.4.  Majority of young people die due to external factors.................................................69 

4.2.4.1.  Death due to transport accidents.................................................................................70 

4.2.4.2.  Death due to suicide....................................................................................................71 

4.2.4.3.  Death due to drugs ......................................................................................................72 

4.2.4.4.  Death due to AIDS/HIV .............................................................................................72 

4.2.5.  Youth attitudes toward smoking .................................................................................73 

4.2.6.  Youth attitudes towards drinking................................................................................73 

4.2.7.  Youth attitudes towards drugs ....................................................................................75 

4.3. 

Young people and leisure time ...................................................................................78 

4.3.1.  Free time decreases with age ......................................................................................78 

4.3.2.  Leisure time activities among 15-30 year olds ...........................................................78 

4.3.3.  Attending cultural events ............................................................................................80 

4.3.4.  Attending live sports events........................................................................................80 

4.3.5.  Cultural visits..............................................................................................................80 

4.3.6.  Travels and tourism ....................................................................................................81 

4.3.7.  Culture: united in diversity .........................................................................................81 

4.3.8.  Culture and multiculturalism ......................................................................................82 

4.3.9. 

Intercultural dialogue..................................................................................................82 

4.4. 

The digital generation .................................................................................................84 

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4.4.1.  Young people play a leading role in applying new technologies ...............................84 

4.4.2.  A generational gap in ICT ..........................................................................................85 

4.4.3.  E-mobility ...................................................................................................................86 

4.4.4.  E-skills ........................................................................................................................86 

4.4.5.  Using the Internet .......................................................................................................90 

4.4.6.  E-commerce ................................................................................................................91 

5. 

5.1. 

5.2. 

recommendations derived from research for policymakers and youth workers.........93 

Recommendations to policymakers ............................................................................93 

Recommendations to youth workers ..........................................................................94 

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INTRODUCTION 

This is the first time that the Commission is publishing a report on Youth in the European Union. It 
is  a  first  effort  to  compile  data  and  statistics  in  order  to  give  a  picture  of  the  situation  of  young 
people in Europe.  

This  report  was  requested  by  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  and  constitutes  one  of  the 
supporting  documents  of  the  Commission's  Communication  for  the  new  youth  cooperation 
framework, entitled "An EU Strategy for Youth: Investing and Empowering". 

The objective of this first youth report is twofold. First, it is to support the new youth cooperation 
framework by collecting much of the available statistics and data on the conditions of young people. 
Second,  any  effort  to  address  young  people's  challenges  and  improve  their  situation  must  be 
evidence-based.  

The  report  "European  Research  on  Youth"  with  results  of  youth-related  projects  funded  under 
consecutive  Commission  research  framework  programmes  from  1996  to  now,  as  well  as  a 
forthcoming  Eurostat  publication  with  data  and  statistics  on  the  situation  of  young  people,  will 
provide additional information. 

By  making  accessible  evidence  and  knowledge  on  the  situation  of  young  people  in  Europe,  this 
report  also  gives  some  indications  for  where  there  is  a  lack  of  research  and  data  on  youth  and 
possible venues for future improvement.  

By elaborating this first European report on youth, the ambition of the Commission is to contribute 
to better integrated youth policies. This dynamic is also valid at the national level where ongoing 
knowledge production can also improve conditions for developing youth policy. 

Target group covered by the report: definition of youth 

There  is  no  clear-cut  definition  of  youth.  The  period  of  when  a  person  is  seen  as  young  may  be 
considered a transition phase. Youth has been defined as “the passage from a dependant childhood 
to  independent  adulthood”.  Young  people  are  in  transition  between  a  world  of  rather  secure  and 
standard  biographical  development  to  a  world  of  choice  and/or  risk  where  individuals  have  to 
choose and plan their own orientation and social integration. 

Finding a common definition of youth is not an easy task. Age is a useful but insufficient indication 
to characterise the transition to adulthood. Other qualitative information also reveals how societies 
acknowledge  the  increasing  maturity  of  young  people.  The  age  limit  of  child  benefits,  the  end  of 
full-time compulsory schooling, the voting age and the minimum age for standing for elections may 
be considered as key milestones to adulthood. 

The age limit of child benefits usually ranges from 15 (in the Czech Republic and Latvia) to 18, but 
it is often prolonged when children are still in education. The end of compulsory education may also 
be seen as the time when individuals are free to make their own choices. It ranges from 14 to 17 
years.  

Considering  civic  rights,  the  voting  age  for  national  elections  in  the  European  Union  is  18  in  all 
countries except Austria (16). In Italy the legal voting age is 18 but the Senate is elected only by 
people aged 25 and over. The age to stand for elections as a candidate varies from 18 to 40 across 
Member States, and may depend of the type of election (see chapter 3). 

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Aside  from  the  above-mentioned  key  milestones  that  are  mainly  related  to  age,  adulthood  is  also 
considered  as  the  time  when  young  people  become  financially  self-sufficient.  The  increase  in  the 
length  of  studies  (especially  through  increased  participation  in  higher  education  ),  combined  with 
difficulties in getting a first job and access to affordable housing have increased the length of the 
transition from youth to independence.  

For these reasons this report focuses mainly on the population aged between 15 and 29, but statistics 
are sometimes available for different age ranges.  

Method 

Areas  covered  in  the  report  are  among  those  considered  to  be  important  for  the  development  of 
youth  policy.  However,  more  coverage  been  given  to  areas  and  issues  where  useful  data  on  the 
situation of young people in Europe has been easily accessible.  

Sources 

Chapters  1,  2  and  4  build  primarily  on  data  and  analyses  provided  by  Eurostat  based  on  the 
following main surveys: 

- European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) 

- European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC) 

For  chapter  3,  the  main  sources  are  reports  to  the  Commission  by  Member  States,  data  from  the 
European  Knowledge  Centre  on  Youth  Policy  (EKCYP)1  and  some  Eurobarometer  surveys. 
Eurobarometer surveys are not statistical tools but opinion polls based on subjective responses, and 
are not always exhaustive.  

The European Social Survey (ESS)2 has also provided data for some parts of chapters 3 and 4. 

Content 

The aim of this report is to provide data and analysis on the different pathways of young people, and 
how  they  influence  –  and  are  themselves  influenced  –  by  underlying  demographic,  economic  and 
social contexts. This regards in particular the transition from education to the labour market. Other 
important elements are the analysis of young people’s active citizenship as well as their well being, 
their family life, and more generally some aspects of their lifestyle. 

Frequency 

In line with the request from the Council of the European Union, youth reports are expected to be 
produced every three years. These reports will continue to build on the basis of the current report. In 
this way, a constructive dynamic should be developed: the process of analysing data - or identifying 

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EKCYP  has  been  developed  jointly  by  the  European  Commission  and  the  Council  of  Europe.  This  is  a 
knowledge management system that aims at providing youth policy-makers and other interested stakeholders 
with a single entry point to retrieve information on the realities of youth across Europe. 
The European Social Survey (ESS) is an academically-driven social survey designed to chart and explain the 
interaction  between  Europe's  changing  institutions  and  the  attitudes  beliefs  and  behaviour  patterns  of  its 
diverse populations. Now in its fourth round, the survey covers over 30 nations. This survey received funding 
from 
at 
EU  Research 
www.europeansocialsurvey.org 

Programmes.  More 

information 

Framework 

available 

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areas  where  there  is  insufficient  data  -  will  suggest  what  kind  of  other  information  and  analysis 
could be useful, the results of which can be introduced in the next report.  

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1. 

DEMOGRAPHY 

Past  decades  have  shown  a  continuous  increase  in  life  expectancy  in  Europe.  This  increasingly 
affects the general organisation of life and the length of the main life periods: school life, working 
life and retirement all tend to become longer with time. 

1.1. 

Close to 100 million young people live in the European Union 

Figures  from  2007  indicate  that  some  96  million  people  aged  between  15  and  29  reside  in  the 
European Union. An excess of 34 million European inhabitants are between 25 and 29 years of age, 
slightly  more  than  the  populations  of  the  other  two  age  groups  (20-24  and  15-19),  which  are 
recorded at some 32 million and 30 million respectively. 

In terms of share of the population, youth represents just under a fifth of the total (19.4%), with the 
proportion of young people aged between 25 and 29 (6.9 %) slightly higher than the share of young 
people aged 20-24 (6.5 %) and 15-19 (6 %).  

The  share  of  youth  aged  between  15  and  29  in  the  total  population  at  the  national  level  ranges 
between  22%  and  24%  for  the  Baltic  States  (Estonia,  Latvia  and  Lithuania),  Cyprus  and  Malta, 
whereas it is less than 20% (average proportion at the European Union level), in Austria, Germany, 
Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, Spain and the United 
Kingdom. 

Young people (15-19, 20-24, 25-29) as a share of total population, 01.01.2007 

1.2. 

Changes in the working population 

In the near future the European Union will face two demographic challenges, namely the ageing and 
impending decline of its population. The population share of young people will drop further, while 
that of older people will increase. As a consequence, the characteristics of the working population 

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will change. Two indicators in particular are useful to evaluate this trend: population of working age 
(20-59 and 60-65), and activity rates per age. 

Over the past decade, both the working population (aged 20-59 years) and the population aged 60 
years and above have been growing by 1 to 1.5 million people per year on average. According to 
Eurostat demographic projections, it is foreseen that from now on the population aged 60 years and 
above  will  be  growing  by  2  million  people  every  year  for  the  next  25  years.  The  growth  of  the 
working-age population is slowing down fast and will stop altogether in about 6 years; from then 
on, this segment of the population will be shrinking by 1 to 1.5 million people each year. 

The projections of the old and young age dependency ratios3 indicate that by 2050, the population 
under 14 will account for less that one fourth of the population aged 15-64 - while the population 
aged over 65 will represent more than 50 % of the 15-64 year olds. From 2004 to 2050, the young 
age dependency ratio will remain stable while the old age dependency ratio will nearly double. 

Projection of young and old age dependency ratios, EU-25, 2004–2050 

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Young age depency ratio
old age dependency ratio

2004

2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

By 2050, the old age dependency ratio will be lower than 50 % in just over half of the EU Member 
States,  but  higher  than  60  %  in  countries  such  as  Bulgaria,  Spain  and  Italy.  The  young  age 
dependency ratio is projected to be below 30 % in all Member States, with the highest scores (over 
27  %)  in  Ireland,  France,  Luxembourg  and  Sweden  and  the  lowest  (under  22  %)  in  Bulgaria, 
Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria and Romania. 

Source: Eurostat - population projection 

1.3. 

Youth immigration and mobility 

Member States of the European Union are attractive to young people coming from other countries. 
They may come from neighbouring countries outside the Union, from former colonies of Member 

3 

The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labour force and those typically in 
the labour force. The young-age dependency ratio is the ratio of the number of young persons at an age when 
they  are  generally  economically  inactive  divided  by  the  number  of  persons  of  working  age.  The  old-age 
dependency ratio is the ratio of the number of elderly persons at an age when they are generally economically 
inactive divided by the number of persons of working age. 

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States,  or  from  other  countries  outside  of  Europe.  Mobility  inside  the  EU  also  contributes  to 
changing  the  structure  of  society.  Regarding  international  migration  patterns,  European  countries 
have experienced major changes since the end of the Second World War, most notably through a 
progressive  shift  from  emigration  to  immigration.  This  trend  has  gained  strength,  international 
migration  has  become  a  key  factor  in  European  population  growth  and  immigration  flows  have 
increased. Population ageing, including the ageing of the workforce could continue to function as a 
pull factor for international migration.  

The figures we refer to in the following paragraphs come from Eurostat (Eurostat- LFS and Eurostat 
population-International  Migration  and  Asylum).  Measuring  migration  among  young  people  takes 
also into account student mobility.  

Mobility of young Europeans  

Young  EU  nationals  mostly  tend  to  move  to  Belgium,  Germany,  Spain,  Italy,  Cyprus,  Austria, 
Sweden and the United Kingdom. In Luxembourg almost 40 % of young people are from other EU 
Member  States,  but  the  UK  and  Spain  remain  the  main  hosting  countries  for  young  people. 
Migration flows also reveal that young people tend to move to neighbouring countries. For example, 
the  main  young  foreign  nationals  residing  in  Slovenia  are  Germans  and  in  the  United  Kingdom 
475 000 young persons were born in Ireland.  

Mobility from outside EU 

Immigration  from  outside  the  EU  is  influenced  by  diverse  factors  such  as  former  colonial  links, 
(Belgium, France, UK, the Netherlands, or Spain and Portugal), strategic geographical position as a 
gateway  to  Europe  (Estonia,  Spain,  Greece,  or  Finland),  favourable  economic  conditions 
(Luxembourg for example), or a combination of some or all of these factors. 

Germany,  Spain  and  the  United  Kingdom  are  the  countries  with  the  largest  absolute  numbers  of 
young non-EU foreigners between the ages of 15 and 29 (1.8, 1.4 and 1.25 million respectively). In 
2007, more than 15% of young people in Spain were non-EU citizens. This was the second highest 
proportion  after  that  of  Luxembourg,  among  the  18  EU  Member  States  for  which  these  data  are 
available. Austria and Germany follow with 13.6% and 12.4% respectively. The lowest proportions 
are found in three of the most recent EU Member States (Poland, Romania and Slovakia). 

Spain is the main destination of young immigrants from the American continent and from Africa, 
while  most  young  immigrants  from  Asia  tend  to  go  to  the  United  Kingdom.  Many  young 
immigrants  in  the  Netherlands  were  born  in  Asia,  followed  by  America,  Africa  and  Turkey.  The 
largest group of third-country citizens living in Austria, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are 
from Turkey, and the majority of the third-country foreigners in France and Spain have Moroccan 
citizenship. In France, geographic and cultural proximities also ease mobility. Young people from 
Iceland and Norway tend to emigrate to Sweden or Denmark, while youngsters from Croatia and the 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia go firstly to Slovenia. 

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KEY FIGURES RELATING TO DEMOGRAPHY 

•  Currently 96 Million young people aged 15-29 in the European Union  

•  Young people aged 15-29 constitute 19.4 % of the total population within the EU 

•  Projected share of young people in 2050: 15.3 % of the total population  

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2. 

TRANSITION FROM EDUCATION TO EMPLOYMENT 

2.1. 

Education 

In Europe, the extension of schooling is a long-term phenomenon. The rapid economic growth between 
1950  and  1975  increased  the  demand  for  qualified  labour  through  increased  levels  of  education.  More 
recently,  higher  unemployment  rates  and  increasing  world-wide  competition  have  stressed  the  need  to 
improve the overall level of education of the working force in Europe. The knowledge-based economy 
that  already  characterises  many  European  countries  requires  people  to  be  able  to  renew  their  skills 
continuously  through  lifelong  learning  so  as  to  secure  employment  over  time,  and  participate  and 
integrate fully in a changing society. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

School expectancy: School expectancy is an estimate of the number of years a typical 5-year-old child 
can expect to be enrolled in the education system during his or her lifetime if current enrolment patterns 
remain unchanged. It is calculated by adding the net educational enrolment percentages for each single 
year  of  age  and  age  band.  The  net  enrolment  rates  are  calculated  by  dividing  the  number  of  students 
(ISCED 0 to 6) of a particular age or age group by the number of persons in the population in the same 
age or age band.  

Source: The UNESCO/OECD/EUROSTAT (UOE) database on education statistics  

Early school leavers refer to persons aged 18 to 24 in the following two conditions: the highest level of 
education or training attained is ISCED 0, 1, 2 or 3c short and respondents declared not having received 
any education or training in the four weeks preceding the survey 

Formal Education is defined as “…education provided in the system of schools, colleges, universities 
and  other  formal  educational  institutions  that  normally  constitutes  a  continuous  “ladder”  of  full-time 
education for children and young people, generally beginning at age of five to seven and continuing up to 
20 or 25 years old. In some countries, the upper parts of this “ladder” are organised programmes of joint 
part-time  employment  and  part-time  participation  in  the  regular  school  and  university  system:  such 
programmes have come to be known as the “dual system” or equivalent terms in these countries.” 

Non-formal  Education  is  defined  as  “any  organised  and  sustained  educational  activities  that  do  not 
correspond exactly to the above definition of formal education. Non-formal education may therefore take 
place  both  within  and  outside  educational  institutions,  and  cater  to  persons  of  all  ages.  Depending  on 
country contexts, it may cover educational programmes to impart adult literacy, basic education for out 
of school children, life-skills, work-skills, and general culture. Non-formal education programmes do not 
necessarily follow the “ladder” system, and may have a differing duration.” 

Informal Learning is defined as “…intentional, but it is less organised and less structured ….and may 
include  for  example  learning  events  (activities)  that  occur  in  the  family,  in  the  work  place,  and  in  the 
daily life of every person, on a self-directed, family-directed or socially directed basis”.  

Source: Eurostat - Classification of learning activities -Manual 

The  International  Standard  Classification  of  Education  (ISCED)  is  an  instrument  suitable  for 
assembling,  compiling  and  presenting  comparable  indicators  and  statistics  of  education  both  within 
individual countries and internationally. It presents standard concepts, definitions and classifications and 
covers all organized and sustained learning opportunities for children, youth and adults including those 

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with special needs education, irrespective of the institution or entity providing them or the form in which 
they are delivered. 

LEVEL 0 – Pre-primary education: Programmes at level 0, (pre-primary) defined as the initial stage of 
organized  instruction  are  designed  primarily  to  introduce  very  young  children  to  a  school-type 
environment, i.e. to provide a bridge between the home and a school-based atmosphere.  

LEVEL 1 – Primary education or first stage of basic education: Programmes at level 1 are normally 
designed  on  a  unit  or  project  basis  to  give  students  a  sound  basic  education  in  reading,  writing  and 
mathematics  along  with  an  elementary  understanding  of  other  subjects  such  as  history,  geography, 
natural science, social science, art and music (and sometimes religion).  

LEVEL 2 – Lower secondary or second stage of basic education: The contents of education at this 
stage are typically designed to complete the provision of basic education which began at ISCED level 1. 
In  many,  if  not  most  countries,  the  educational  aim  is  to  lay  the  foundation  for  lifelong  learning  and 
human  development  on  which  countries  may  expand,  systematically,  further  educational  opportunities. 
The end of this level often coincides with the end of compulsory education where it exists. 

LEVEL 3 – (Upper) secondary education: This level of education typically begins at the end of full-
time  compulsory  education  for  those  countries  that  have  a  system  of  compulsory  education.  More 
specialization may be observed at this level than at ISCED level 2 and often teachers need to be more 
qualified or specialized than for ISCED level 2. The entrance age to this level is typically 15 or 16 years.  

LEVEL  4  –  Post-secondary  non-tertiary  education:  ISCED  4  programmes  can,  depending  on  their 
content, not to be regarded as tertiary programmes. They are often not significantly more advanced than 
programmes  at  ISCED  3  but  they  serve  to  broaden  the  knowledge  of  participants  who  have  already 
completed a programme at level 3. Typical examples are programmes designed to prepare students for 
studies  at  level  5  who,  although  having  completed  ISCED  level  3,  did  not  follow  a  curriculum  which 
would allow entry to level 5, i.e. pre-degree foundation courses or short vocational programmes.  

LEVEL  5  –  First  stage  of  tertiary  education  (not  leading  directly  to  an  advanced  research 
qualification): This level consists of tertiary programmes having an educational content more advanced 
than  those  offered  at  levels  3  and  4.  There  is  a  distinction  between  5A:  the  programmes  which  are 
theoretically  based/research  preparatory  (history,  philosophy,  mathematics,  etc.)  or  giving  access  to 
professions  with  high  skills  requirements  (e.g.  medicine,  dentistry,  architecture,  etc.),  and  5B:  those 
programmes which are practical/technical/occupationally specific.  

LEVEL 6 – Second stage of tertiary education (leading to an advanced research qualification): This 
level is reserved for tertiary programmes which lead to the award of an advanced research qualification. 
The  programmes  are  therefore  devoted  to  advanced  study  and  original  research  and  are  not  based  on 
course-work only. 

The term  Early-Stage Researcher refers to researchers in the  first four years (full-time equivalent) of 
their research activity, including the period of research training. 

According  to  the  ISCED  classification,  general  and  vocational  educations  have  the  following 
definitions: 

General education: Education which is mainly designed to lead participants to a deeper understanding 
of a subject or group of subjects, especially, but not necessarily, with a view to preparing participants for 
further (additional) education at the same or a higher level. Successful completion of these programmes 
may or may not provide the participants with a labour-market relevant qualification at this level. These 
programmes are typically school-based. 

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Vocational or technical education: Education which is mainly designed to lead participants to acquire 
the practical skills, know-how and understanding necessary for employment in a particular occupation or 
trade  or  class  of  occupations  or  trades.  Successful  completion  of  such  programmes  lead  to  a  labour-
market relevant vocational qualification recognised by the competent authorities in the country in which 
it is obtained (e.g. Ministry of Education, employers’ associations, etc.). 

Source:  International  Standard  Classification  of  Education  ISCED  1997,  United  Nations  Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organization 

2.1.1.  Longer schooling for children  

As  a  result  of  life  expectancy,  the  number  of  years  that  a  young  person  will  spend  within  the  formal 
education  system  is  higher  than  before  (it  is  today  on  average  17  years).  For  instance,  in  Denmark, 
Estonia, Finland, Hungary,  Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Poland, this  means  that  children  aged  5  can 
expect to spend more than one fourth of their remaining lifetime at school and university. 

School  expectancy  depends  on  various  factors  that  structure  each  educational  system:  the  length  of 
compulsory  schooling,  the  access  and  patterns  of  pre-primary  education,  the  different  types  of  upper 
secondary education (vocational or general) and  the way pupils  are  oriented  towards them,  the type of 
admission  and  the  variety  of  choices  in  tertiary  education.  Beyond  compulsory  education,  school 
expectancy  is  also  affected,  among  other  factors,  by  the  attitudes  of  parents  who  may  consider  the 
investment in their children's education a security ensuring status, a decent future income and protection 
against unemployment. 

In  addition  to  investing  in  secondary  education,  however,  the  development  of  lifelong  learning 
opportunities  reinforces  the  need  to  consider  also  the  time  spent  in  non-formal  education  and  informal 
learning during the entire life in order to evaluate the total time devoted to education in a lifetime. 

2.1.2.  Choosing paths after compulsory schooling 

In most European countries, compulsory schooling ends between the ages 14 and 17, which corresponds 
to the end of lower secondary education. Nowadays it is by no means exceptional to remain in education 
after the end of compulsory schooling. From this age, young Europeans may choose at any time whether 
to  continue  their  education  or  to  become  economically  active.  Most  young  people  choose  to  continue 
their  studies  beyond  compulsory  education,  but  some  choose  alternative  ways.  However,  many  young 
people do not take a clear-cut decision on whether to pursue education or employment. Instead, they opt 
for a transitional phase during which they try to conciliate studies and work.  

In most European countries, over 80 % of the population remains at school at least one year after the end 
of  compulsory  education.  Attendance  rates  tend  to  decline  more  in  the  second  year  after  the  end  of 
compulsory education, but remain above 70 % in most countries. The exceptions are Germany and the 
United  Kingdom,  where  less  than  50 %  of  young  people  remain  in  education  two  years  following 
compulsory education. 

Young  women  remain  in  education  longer  than  their  male  counterparts.  In  most  countries,  female 
attendance  rates  two  years  after  the  end  of  compulsory  education  are  higher  than  for  their  male 
counterparts. 

At the age of 19, more than 60 % of young Europeans are still in formal education, although at different 
levels due to the differences in the education systems and their own academic progression. In Bulgaria, 
Luxembourg, Austria, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, more than half of young people aged 
19  have  are  no  longer  in  formal  education.  In  these  countries,  the  transition  to  the  labour  market  has 
already started for a majority of young people. In the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Hungary and 

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Austria,  the  share  of  19-year-olds  attending  post  secondary  vocational  education  (which  is  more  work 
oriented) reach around 10 %. In Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands more than 40 % 
of the 19 years old population is still in upper secondary education. 

2.1.3.  Educational orientation and early transition to work 

Further participation in higher education depends on the educational orientation (general or vocational) 
of  upper  secondary  education.  At  EU  level,  a  little  more  than  half  of  the  students  in  upper  secondary 
education attend vocational-oriented programmes. The percentage of students that prepare themselves to 
enter the labour market at this level is especially high (more than 70 %) in the Czech Republic, Austria, 
and  Slovakia.  To  a  lesser  extent,  most  of  students  in  upper  secondary  choose  vocational  orientation  in 
Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherland, Romania, Slovenia, and Finland. At the opposite, 
in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Greece, Hungary, and Portugal, more than 60 % of students follow 
general programmes in a view to continue further education. In Cyprus, more than 80 % of students are 
in this situation.  

Young  men  and  women  who  graduate  from  vocational  programmes  in  upper  secondary  education  are 
mainly prepared to  work  in  business  and industry. At European level, 62 % of graduates of vocational 
programmes at this level studied either “social science, business and law” or “engineering, manufacturing 
and construction” programmes. Graduates in “health and welfare” as well “services” come next.  

2.1.4.  Gender differences in upper secondary education 

In 2006, the number of boys attending upper secondary education is not very different from the one of 
girls. Most EU Member States show a balanced distribution and at European level, there are 98 girls for 
every  100  boys.  However,  in  some  countries,  the  number  of  women  to  every  hundred  men  is  more 
unbalanced.  This  is  the  case  in  Germany  (89  women  to  every  100  men),  Malta  (88)  Austria  (89)  and 
Poland  (90).  Conversely,  in  Denmark,  Finland,  Sweden,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Ireland,  Spain, 
Luxembourg,  Portugal  and  the  United  Kingdom,  women  are  more  numerous  in  upper  secondary 
education.  

Despite the fact that the gender gap in upper secondary education is low in most of the countries, strong 
differences across sexes emerge when considering attendance by educational orientation. In all European 
countries, girls outnumber boys in general upper secondary education meaning that they mainly prepare 
for  further  education  whereas  boys  are  more  focused  in  preparing  access  to  the  labour  market.  This  is 
illustrated by the fact that within EU Member States, nearly 54 % of girls in upper secondary education 
are  attending  general  programmes  whereas  only  43 %  of  boys  do  so.  The  reverse  is  true  when 
considering  vocational  programmes,  except  in  Ireland  and  the  United  Kingdom  where  girls  are  more 
numerous than boys independent of programme orientation. In Bulgaria, Denmark, Malta and Poland, a 
majority of women are attending the general secondary educational programme whereas the majority of 
men  are  attending  vocational  programmes.  In  Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Greece,  Cyprus, 
Hungary, Malta, and Poland there are less than 70 girls for every 100 boys in vocational programmes. 

2.1.5.  More students in the knowledge triangle 

Tertiary education is the final stage of formal or regular education. Education, research and innovation 
(also known as the knowledge triangle) play a key role in facing the challenges of globalisation and the 
development of knowledge society. When creating new knowledge and including it in the education of 
students, the basis is set up for further innovation, creativity and contribution to future prosperity.  

In  2006,  there  were  almost  19  million  tertiary  students  in  the  European  Union.  The  number  of  tertiary 
students  has  increased  by  25 %  between  1998  and  2006.  There  are  about  3  million  more  students  in 
higher  education  and  1  million  more  graduates  per  year  than  in  2000.  At  EU  level,  11.5 %  of  the 

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population  aged  between  18  and  39  attend  tertiary  education.  Attendance  rates  vary  across  countries, 
however: more than half of the countries for which data is available show attendance rates higher than 
10 %. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Greece, France, Poland and Finland, the participation rate is 
higher than 15 %.  

One probable reason why participation rates are lower in Cyprus, Malta, and Luxembourg may be that 
many young people are studying abroad.  

Number of tertiary students per country (1000), 2006  

UK
SE 
FI
SK
SI
RO
PT
PL
AT
NL
MT
HU
LU
LT
LV
CY
IT
FR
ES
EL
IE
EE
DE
DK
CZ
BG
BE

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Source: Eurostat 

2.1.6.  An emerging gender gap in tertiary studies 

The past decade (1998-2006) has witnessed an increase in the gender gap in higher education. In 1998, 
there were nearly 112 women to every 100 men in higher education. This ratio increased to 123 in 2006. 
These  numbers  show  that  the  'feminisation'  of  tertiary  education  is  stronger  than  in  upper  secondary 
education. This is probably linked to the fact that the majority of women attend general programmes that 
prepare them for further education at tertiary level rather than vocational programmes.  

2.1.7.  Older students  

Most full time students are economically inactive and thus rely (partly or fully) on the financial support 
from their parents and/or from public support schemes. Thus, the distribution by age of full time students 
can  provide  some  indication  as  to  the  age  at  which  young  people  are  probably  not  yet  economically 
active.  There  is  a  strong  diversity  across  Europe.  This  diversity  may  be  explained  by  several  factors: 
Different  education  systems  have  different  starting  age  of  tertiary  education  (due  to  various  length  of 
secondary education). They also differ on the length of tertiary education programmes and the types of 
financial support students can get from public authorities. The obligation to do military service, as well 
as public policies aiming to encourage lifelong learning at tertiary level, also increases the average age of 
a student of higher education. Finally, the levels of participation in programmes which lead to advanced 

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research degrees also have an impact on the age of the student population. Among EU Member States, 
half of the students are older than 22. 

Across Europe, the median age4 of tertiary students ranges from 20.5 in Greece to near 26 in Denmark, 
Finland,  Sweden,  Germany  and  Austria:  in  these  countries  half  of  the  students  are  older  than  23. 
Moreover, in the three Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden) as well as in Latvia and the United 
Kingdom, 15 % of full time students are older than 35. The same countries also tend to show the highest 
diversity in terms of age of the student population. 

Most of the European countries have witnessed an ageing of the oldest population of full time students 
between 1998 and 2006: old students tend to become older. In 1998, 15 % of European full time students 
were older than 29. In 2006, 15 % of students were older than 30. The three Baltic States have registered 
a dramatic increase in the average age of the oldest students over the same period: the average age of the 
15  %  oldest  students  increased  by  7  years  in  Lithuania  and  by  nearly  10  in  Latvia.  Significant  but  yet 
lower  increases  are  also  registered  in  Ireland,  Greece,  Hungary  and  Malta,  where  the  average  age 
increased by more than 5 years. The reverse applies in Germany, Austria, and Poland, where the average 
age of the 15 % oldest students has actually decreased. 

2.1.8.  Learning foreign languages 

Multilingualism  (i.e.  the  ability  to  speak  and  use  several  languages)  has  become  a  key  issue  in  the 
development  of  the  European  Union.  The  European  Commission’s  Communication  on  “A  New 
Framework Strategy for Multilingualism” states that the many mother tongues are a “a source of wealth 
and a bridge to greater solidarity and mutual understanding”, but also that “the ability to understand and 
communicate  in  more  than  one  language  is  a  desirable  life-skill  for  all  European  citizens.  It  enables 
people to take advantage of the freedom to work or study in another Member State". Learning languages 
is thus a “key for the future”. It should be given to all pupils in general, including in vocational upper 
secondary education. 

At the EU level, learning languages at school is a reality for most pupils in upper secondary education 
regardless of educational orientation: less than 10 % of pupils do not learn any foreign languages. Pupils 
in prevocational and vocational programmes at upper secondary level tend to learn less foreign languages 
than their counterparts in general programmes. The majority (64 %) of pupils in vocational programmes 
learn one language and a little more than 25 % learn two. However in Estonia, for instance, more than 
80 % of students in vocational programmes learn two foreign languages. In most countries for which data 
are available, all or nearly all pupils in general programmes at upper secondary education learn at least 
one foreign language. The exceptions are Portugal and the United Kingdom, where 40 % or more pupils 
do not learn any foreign language. 

2.1.9. 

Increased mobility, but not for everyone 

A  high  level  expert  forum  on  mobility,  established  by  the  European  Commission,  has  stated  that 
“learning mobility should become a natural feature of being European and an opportunity provided to all 
young people in Europe”. Learning mobility is important for strengthening Europe's competitiveness, for 
creating a knowledge-intensive society and for deepening citizenship within young generations. 

Mobility  concerns  various  young  populations:  pupils  and  students  in  secondary  and  tertiary  education, 
trainees, apprentices, volunteers and participants in professional training in or outside Europe. However, 
statistical information on mobility in Europe is only partially harmonised and exists most often only on 
tertiary education. Moreover, data on mobility based on the citizenship criterion within the field of higher 

4 

Median is the middle value of a sample 

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education is not fully comparable across countries since national legislation governing the acquisition of 
citizenship differs across Europe.  

Six  EU  countries  (Austria,  Belgium,  Cyprus,  France,  Germany  and  United  Kingdom)  have  more  than  
10 % foreign students in their total student population. Three of these countries, Cyprus, Austria, and the 
United Kingdom, have a proportion higher than 15 %. 

Various  European  Union  programmes  support  learning  mobility  across  Europe.  The  Youth  in  Action 
Programme, successor of the YOUTH programme, supports EU’s mobility and non-formal education of 
young people, particularly young people with fewer opportunities: each year 100 000 young people are 
involved  in  more  than  6  000  projects.  Since  1988,  1.5  millions  young  people  and  youth  workers 
participated in the programme. In the formal education field, Erasmus has had a growing popularity over 
the  years,  supporting  3244  students  in  its  first  year  (the  academic  year  1987/88)  and  nearly  160 000 
students in 2006/07. Overall, the Erasmus programme has supported more than 2 millions students so far. 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROGRAMMES  

IN THE FIELD OF LIFELONG LEARNING AND YOUTH 

Comenius:  The  Comenius  programme  focuses  on  the  first  phase  of  education,  from  pre-school  and 
primary  to  secondary  schools.  It  is  relevant  for  all  members  of  the  education  community:  pupils, 
teachers,  local  authorities,  parents’  associations,  non-government  organisations,  teacher  training 
institutes,  universities  and  all  other  educational  staff.  Comenius  seeks  to  develop  knowledge  and 
understanding among young people and educational staff of the diversity of European cultures, languages 
and  values.  It  helps  young  people  acquire  the  basic  life  skills  and  competences  necessary  for  their 
personal development, for future employment and for active citizenship.  

Leonardo:  The  Leonardo  da  Vinci  programme  links  policy  to  practice  in  the  field  of  vocational 
education and training (VET). Projects range from those giving individuals the chance to improve their 
competences,  knowledge  and  skills  through  a  period  abroad,  to  Europe-wide  co-operation  between 
training  organisations.  The  programme  funds  a  wide  range  of  actions,  notably  cross-border  mobility 
initiatives; co-operation projects to develop and spread innovation; and thematic networks. The potential 
beneficiaries  are  similarly  wide  –  from  trainees  in  initial  vocational  training,  to  people  already  in  the 
labour market, as well as VET professionals and private or public organisations active in this field. 

Erasmus:  The  Erasmus  programme  aims  at  enhancing  the  quality  and  reinforcing  the  European 
dimension of higher education as well as at increasing student and staff mobility. It enriches not only the 
students’  lives  in  the  academic  field  but  also  in  the  acquisition  of  intercultural  skills  and  self-reliance. 
Staff  exchanges  also  have  beneficial  effects  both  on  the  persons  concerned  and  on  the  institutions 
involved. Erasmus Mundus is the globally open counterpart of the Erasmus programme. 

Youth  in  action:  The  Youth  in  Action  programme  aims  at  inspiring  a  sense  of  active  citizenship, 
solidarity  and  tolerance  among  young  Europeans,  promoting  the  employability,  and  involving  them  in 
shaping the Union's future. It promotes mobility within and beyond the EU borders, non-formal learning 
and  intercultural  dialogue  and  encourages  the  inclusion  of  all  young  people,  regardless  of  their 
educational, social and cultural background. It supports a large variety of activities of young people and 
youth workers through five Actions.  

Source: DG Education and Culture  

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2.1.10.  The level of education: a comparison between generations 

The  percentage  of  the  population  which  has  completed  higher  education  is  increasing.  29 %  of  young 
Europeans  aged  between  25  and  29  have  completed  higher  education,  against  18 %  of  the  population 
aged between 55 and 59. The same trend exists for secondary education: slightly more that 50 % of the 
25-29 age group has finished secondary education compared to 42 % of the 55-59 age group. 

However,  a  few  countries  experience  that  the  proportion  of  people  aged  between  25  and  29  having 
completed at least upper secondary education is lower than the one for the 35-39 and 45-49 age groups. 
This is the case in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. 

Population by age group (25-29, 55-59) sex and highest level of education completed 

Almost all member states show an increase in the proportion of people having completed at least upper 
secondary education through generations. The only exceptions are Germany, the Baltic States, Romania 
and Sweden.  

2.1.11.  Early school leavers 

One out of seven young persons aged 18 to 24 in the EU leaves the education system with no more than 
lower  secondary  education  and  participates  in  no  form  of  education  and  training  (early  school  leaver). 
There has been a continuous improvement in recent years, but progress will need to speed up in order to 
reach the EU benchmark set for 2010. At the European level, the percentage of early school leavers has 
continuously decreased over the 2000-2007 period. It is now standing at 14.8 %.  

Europe tends to show a north/south divide on this issue. Some of the southern countries record more than 
30 % of early school leavers (Spain, Malta, and Portugal) whereas other countries (principally from north 
Europe)  register  much  lower  numbers.  In  all  countries  except  Bulgaria,  the  percentage  of  early  school 
leavers  is  higher  for  male  than  for  female.  Seven  Member  States  –  the  Czech  Republic,  Lithuania, 
Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden – have shares of less than 10 %. Among these countries, 
Poland, the Czech Republic and Finland are still progressing. Other countries, like Malta and Portugal, 
leavers. 
have  considerably  decreased 

initially  very  high  percentages  of  early  school 

their 

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Percentage of early school leavers by country, 2007 

United Kingdom
Sweden
Finland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Romania
Portugal
Poland
Austria
Netherlands
Malta
Hungary
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Latvia
Cyprus
Italy
France
Spain
Greece 
Ireland
Estonia
Germany
Denmark
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Belgium
EU 27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Source: Eurostat (Labour Force Survey) 

RESEARCH FINDINGS OF THE UP2YOUTH PROJECT: 

YOUTH - ACTOR OF SOCIAL CHANGE5 

Young migrants' transitions from education to work 

The  UP2YOUTH  project  centres  around  three  areas  of  social  change  with  regard  to  youth  and  its 
transition to adulthood: young parenthood; social participation; and the transitions of young people with 
an ethnic minority or migrant background. UP2Youth analyses to what extent social change results from 
young people’s agency and what they need to act in ways which contribute both to social integration and 
to subjectively meaningful biographies. 

Learning  is  a  key  to  an  agency  perspective  in  understanding  changing  pathways  to  adulthood  and 
citizenship.  In  the  individualisation  of  transitions  to  adulthood  learning  is  relevant  in  a  double 
perspective: 

–  young people are expected to acquire knowledge and skills in formal trajectories, but 

–  individual learning increasingly takes place in non-formal and informal settings. 

5 

The  UP2Youth  project  was  funded  under  the  6th  framework  programme  of  the  European  Union  (Citizens  and 
governance  programme)  and  involved  research  partners  from  15  countries  (Germany,  Denmark,  France,  Italy, 
Bulgaria,  Slovenia,  Portugal,  Spain,  Finland,  Romania,  Austria,  Slovakia  and  Ireland),  running  from  May  2006  - 
April 2009 – Info: http://www.up2youth.org/. 

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Today  formal  learning  is  most  necessary  but  not  sufficient  to  help  young  people’s  social  and  labour 
market integration. Approaches of non-formal learning are concerned with compensating a lack of formal 
learning – especially with regard to youth – and to allow for reconciliation between adult expectations 
and youth cultural forms of praxis. 

The development of alternative learning settings holds considerable resources to compensate for missing 
formal  certificates.  This  is  especially  the  case  for  young  people  with  learning  problems  in  formal 
education, as is often the case for young people with an ethnic minority or migrant background, due to 
linguistic and cultural challenges or interrupted educational trajectories. 

While belonging to an ethnic minority may be considered a biographical and social resource in globalised 
post-modern  life  (governed  by  flexibility  and  cultural  diversity),  it  may  also  bring  them  at  the  edge  of 
society, marginalized by the larger society and separated by cultural and religious life styles. 

Thus a significant proportion of young people with migration background is involved in a “processes of 
ethnic  differentiation”  reinforced  by  discrimination,  restricted  educational  achievements  and  a  low 
socioeconomic status.  

Especially  male  youngsters  from  migrant  and  ethnic  minority  communities  are  regarded  as  developing 
informal peer cultures, being lived as social spaces of social participation and socialization on citizenship 
practices, which often conflict with school cultures. 

Moreover,  the  improvements  in  education  and  vocational  training  have  led  to  a  deficit  of  low/ 
unqualified  labour  force  in  some  sectors  and  a  structural  dependency  on  unskilled,  immigrant  labour 
force in the labour market. The immigrants’ coping strategies respond to these labour markets’ demands, 
which have in most cases a de-motivating effect on their career aspirations and educational improvement 
plans. 

Comparative  research  on  the  social  integration  of  young  people  from  an  ethnic  minority  or  migrant 
background found rather weak links of successful integration processes to integration policies. Most of 
the  success  in  labour  market  transitions  is  attributable  to  the  general  economic,  education  and  social 
policies that are framing labour market transitions. 

Social  integration  appears  to  be  a  matter  of  attachment  and  belonging  predominantly  to  the  local 
surroundings and a daily life. Therefore integration processes might best be carried out in local or smaller 
contexts, in which common interest and activities among local inhabitants can be found.  

2.1.12.  Parents' education and academic success 

The chances young people have to become highly qualified are often influenced by their socio-economic 
background.  Evaluating  the  social  background  of  people  is  complex  and  usually  approximated  by 
different variables.  

However, in all EU Member States for which data is available, the majority of people aged 25-34 with 
parents  who  have  at  most  lower  secondary  education  have  either  completed  the  same  level  (lower 
secondary) or at most upper secondary education.  

Conversely,  young  people  aged  25-34  whose  parents  have  a  tertiary  education,  have  a  much  higher 
chance  of  completing  a  tertiary  education  themselves.  They  are  also  less  at  risk  of  getting  only  a 
secondary  education  than  those  who  have  parents  with  only  a  secondary  education.  In  more  than  two 
thirds of EU Member States for which there is data available, more than half of all young people aged 
25-34 who have parents with tertiary education have themselves completed education at the same level. 
In most countries, less than 5 % had taken only a lower secondary education. 

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23 

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Level of education for people (25-34) whose parents have higher 

(tertiary) education, 2005 

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

BE CZ

DK

DE

EE

ES

FR

IE

GR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

SI

SK

FI

SE UK

IS

NO

Low

Medium

High

2.1.13.  Public financial support in accessing higher education 

In all European countries, access to higher education is facilitated by public  financial support schemes 
dedicated to students and their parents. These schemes may have different purposes (for instance to cover 
the costs of living, to pay administrative fees and/or contribute to tuition costs) and take several forms 
(e.g. loans or combination of grants and loans). The impact of these financing schemes on the social and 
economic  situation  of  students  is  difficult  to  assess,  but  recent  data  suggests  that  students  in  tertiary 
education still rely mainly on parents and family contributions. 

2.1.14.  Youth participation in non-formal education 

Among EU Member States, the average participation rates in non-formal education and training is below 
10 % among all age groups (15-24, 25-29 and 30-54). However, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Sweden and 
the United Kingdom all have a higher participation in non-formal education activities than the average. 
Participation rates are especially high in Denmark and the United Kingdom, where it is around 20 % for 
all age groups. 

Participation  rates  show  low  differences  across  age  groups  in  a  majority  of  countries,  but  in  Spain, 
Greece,  Cyprus,  Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom,  younger  people  participate  more  in  non-formal 
education activities than their elders. 

When considering the level of education of young adults who have taken part in non-formal education 
activities, participation rates are more diverse. In all countries except Greece, Cyprus and Sweden, young 
people with a higher level of education participate to a larger extent in non-formal education activities 
than their peers with a lower level of education. 

This  pattern  is  even  more  pronounced  when  considering  participation  in  non-formal  education  of 
employed people of the same age group. In all European countries, young employed people with a higher 
education participate more in non-formal education than other young people.  

A majority of young employed people who attended non-formal education did so in relation to their job. 
This is especially true for people with at least upper secondary education. However, in Estonia, France, 
Luxembourg,  Hungary,  the  Netherlands,  Austria  and  Romania,  young  employed  people  with  at  most 
upper  secondary  education  are  proportionally  more  numerous  in  attending  job-related  non-formal 
education than those having tertiary education. 

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One dimension of non-formal education that may not be completely covered by the statistics referred to 
above is activities carried out by non-governmental volunteer organisations and/or within the context of 
youth work. Such activities often target young people in particular and are typically carried out during 
young  people's  leisure  time.  Non-formal  education  activities  conducted  by  professional  youth  workers 
and  non-governmental  youth  organisations  are  becoming  increasingly  recognised  as  an  important 
element of lifelong learning. 

KEY FIGURES RELATING TO EDUCATION 

•  There  are  about  3  million  more  students  in  higher  education  and  1  million  more  graduates  per  year 

today than in 2000. The number of students increased by 25% between 1998 and 2006. 

•  There are 19 million students in higher education in the European Union; this constitutes 11.5 % of 

the population between 18 and 39. 

•  There are 23 % more women than men in higher education. 

•  Nearly 80 % of young people between 25 and 29 have completed upper secondary education. 

•  Still, one fifth of children do not have basic standards of literacy and numeracy.  

•  6 million young people, 1 in 7 of 18-24 years old, achieve only compulsory education or less. 

•  11.5 % of the EU population aged 18-39 attends tertiary education.  

•  At  the  European  level,  the  percentage  of  early  school  leavers  has  continuously  decreased  over  the 

2000-2007 period but still amounts to 14.8 %. 

•  The number of years in the formal education system is on average 17 years. 

•  At age 19, more than 60 % of young Europeans are still in formal education. 

•  More than half of all students in upper secondary education attend vocational programmes. 

•  Girls  prepare  for  higher  education  while  boys  prepare  for  employment:  54  %  of  girls  in  upper 
secondary  education  attend  general  programmes,  whereas  57  %  of  boys  attend  more  employment-
oriented vocational programmes. 

•  15 % of students in the European Union are older than 30 years old. 

•  However, 10 % of pupils do not learn any foreign language in school. 

•  More than 50 % of young Europeans between 25 and 29 have completed upper education and 29 % 

higher education. 

•  Less  than  one  third  of  young  people  aged  25-34  who  have  a  disadvantaged  socio-economic 

background complete higher education. 

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2.2. 

From school to work 

The  transition  from  education  to  employment  is  an  important  process  for  young  people.  The  transition 
process may vary significantly between different countries and different national systems in terms of the 
length and the nature of the transition process, level and persistence of youth unemployment, and types 
of jobs and contracts obtained by young people. 

The  reference  population  analysed  in  this  chapter  is  usually  young  people  aged  15-29.  Whenever 
possible, this is further divided into two age categories, 15-24 and 25-29, in order to take into account the 
diversity of young people’s situation. The majority of the younger age cohort is still in education, while 
the older is supposed to already have a foothold in the labour market.  

EUROPEAN UNION LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (EU LFS) 

The main data source in this section is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The EU LFS 
is a quarterly large sample survey covering the population in private households in the EU, EFTA (except 
Liechtenstein) and Candidate Countries. It provides annual and quarterly results on labour participation 
of people aged 15 and over as well as persons outside the labour force.  

The EU LFS sample size amounts approximately to 1.5 million individuals each quarter. The quarterly 
sampling  rates  vary  between  0.2  and  3.3 %  in  each  country.  This  makes  the  LFS  one  of  the  largest 
household surveys in Europe. 

The  concepts  and  definitions  used  in  the  survey  are  based  on  those  of  the  International  Labour 
Organisation  (ILO).  In  consequence,  results  from  the  EU  LFS  count  among  the  most  comparable 
international labour market statistics. 

Despite the fact that today’s young people are smaller in number and better educated than their previous 
generation,  difficulties  remain  in  entering  the  labour  market.  Many  of  those  who  have  already  gained 
employment often hold unstable jobs. There are several reasons for this, such as the mismatch between 
skills  acquired  in  education  and  training  and  labour  market  requirements,  as  well  as  general  labour 
market  conditions.  In  financially  difficult  times,  companies  will  also  downsize  their  recruitment 
programmes, in addition to the fact that there will be more qualified experts available on the job market. 

2.2.1.  Activity rates 

As  chapter  2.1  shows,  most  young  people  remain  in  education  at  least  until  the  ages  14-17  which 
correspond to the end of full-time compulsory school. Furthermore, a majority of 19 year-olds, who are 
beyond the compulsory school age, are still in formal education.  

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

The economically active population (labour force) comprises employed and unemployed persons.  

Employed persons are persons aged 15 and over who during the reference week performed work, even 
for just one hour, for pay, profit or family gain or were not at work but had a job or business from which 
they  were  temporarily  absent  because  of,  e.g.,  illness,  holidays,  industrial  dispute  or  training.  This  can 
also include students when they are also employed.  

Unemployed persons are persons aged 15-74 who were without work during the reference week, were 
currently available for work and were either actively seeking work in the past four weeks or had already 
found a job to start within the next three months.  

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Inactive persons are those who neither classified as employed nor as unemployed because they are still 
for instance in the education system.  

Activity rates represent active persons as a percentage of same age total population.  

Inactivity rates represent inactive persons as a percentage of same age total population.  

Source: International Labour Office / Labour Force Survey 

The first step towards the labour market is to become economically active (employed or unemployed – 
actively searching for a job). However, young people’s decision to pursue education or not is not so clear 
cut. Aspects to take into account include motivation to continue studying, financial means, the cultural 
context, socio-economic background and the general situation of the labour market.  

Activity rates among young people aged 15-29, 2007 

United Kingdom
Sweden
Finland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Romania
Portugal
Poland
Austria
Netherlands
Malta
Hungary
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Latvia
Cyprus
Italy
France
Spain
Greece 
Ireland
Estonia
Germany
Denmark
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Belgium
EU 27

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Source: Eurostat (Labour Force Survey) 

In  2007,  57.5 %  of  young  Europeans  aged  15-29  were  categorised  as  economically  active.  This  was  a 
drop  by  one  per  cent  from  2000.  With  regard  to  this  age  group,  Member  States  can  be  separated  into 
three categories: those having activity rates below 50 % (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Lithuania, 
Luxembourg, Hungary, and Romania), those who displayed activity rates of more than 70 % (Denmark 
and  the  Netherlands)  and  finally  those  having  activity  rates  between  50 %  and  70 %  (remaining 
countries). With 44 % of young people categorised as economically active in 2007, Lithuania recorded 
the largest drop in activity level from 2000 (minus 10.5 %) while Sweden registered the highest increase 
(7.9 %) going from 55 % to 63 %.  

Activity levels vary according to gender. In most Member States, more than half of young men aged 15-
29 were economically active. There is no such main trend for young women, where activity rates varied 
between 70 % (Denmark and the Netherlands) and 39 % (Hungary). Activity rates also vary according to 
the level of education with the most educated young people displaying activity rates of more than 75 %. 

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Furthermore,  education  seems  to  lessen  the  gender  imbalance  and  to  ease  young  people  entry  into  the 
labour market. 

2.2.2.  Who are the young economically inactive people? 

At  the  EU  level,  more  than  65 %  of  young  people  with  at  most  lower  secondary  education  are 
economically inactive; they are only 16 % among high educated ones. 

Among young inactive people two categories can be distinguished: those who do not want to work and 
those who would like to work but do not look for a job due to specific reasons: own illness or disability, 
education or training, family responsibilities. 

On average around 80 % of young inactive people aged 15-29 do not seek employment, many of them 
still being in the formal education system. 

At  the  EU  level,  65 %  of  young  inactive  people  aged  15-24  do  not  seek  an  employment  because  of 
education or training (at Member State level, the percentages reached a minimum of 76.8 % for Sweden 
and a maximum of 97 % for Luxembourg). This is not surprising as the majority of young people aged 
15-24 are still in education.  

More than 60 % of the young inactive people not seeking employment are women. In addition, inactive 
young people not looking for a job are more widespread among the youngest age class having only lower 
secondary  education.  This  proportion  decreases  with  the  level  of  education  until  reaching  a  one  digit 
percentage for those having attained the tertiary level. 

2.2.3.  Off the beaten paths: away from education and activity 

Since inactivity is partly accounted for by growing share of young people who tend to stay in education 
beyond the age of compulsory schooling, the following indicators consider all those who are, voluntary 
or  involuntary,  Neither  in  Education.  Employment  nor  Training  (NEET)  allowing  to  better  estimate 
young people most at risk on the labour market. This group of either unemployed or inactive youth and 
not  following  any  education  may  face  difficulties  to  find  work  or  may  drop  out  of  the  labour  force 
altogether  because  of  being  discouraged  to  work  or  for  other  unspecified  reasons  (as  opposed  to  those 
who are inactive because of family commitments, military service, travel or leisure). 

At the European level, more than one third of  young  people  aged  15-24  were  NEET.  The  EU  average 
sometimes hides big differences between the Member States. Indeed, this share reached more than 50 % 
for Bulgaria and Hungary and around 20 % in Denmark and the Netherlands.  

By the age of 25 the share of young people in NEET is lower compared to the youngest age class: one 
might suppose that this decline is mainly due to those who have already found a job or enrolled again in 
education.  Nevertheless,  in  many  countries there are still  more than  20 % of young people aged 25-29 
years considered as NEET. 

2.2.4.  Transition between education and work takes place mainly between 18 and 24 

Half of 20 year-old young people were on the EU labour market in 2007. In a number of countries, the 
age of entry onto the labour market has increased between 2000 and 2007. In this period, the youngest 
age  at  which  at  least  50 %  of  young  people  entered  the  labour  market  increased  by  2  years  in  Greece, 
Italy,  Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and  Slovakia.  On the other hand, Austria experienced in the same 
time period that the youngest age at which at least 50 % of young people entered the labour market was 
reduced by two years. 

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In 2007, the vast majority of 15 year-olds were in education/training and not active in employment. The 
exception here is Denmark, where nearly half of the 15 year-olds (48.5 %) were both in education and 
active  in  the  employment  market.  The  proportion  of  young  people  devoting  themselves  exclusively  to 
education or training decreases with age whereas the proportion of young people characterised as active 
increases  with  age.  Indeed,  90.7 %  of  all  Europeans  aged  15  years  old  in  2007  were  in  education  or 
training, while this number dropped to 3.2 % for 29 year-olds. At the age of 29, roughly three-quarters of 
the young population were categorised as economically active.  

Transition from education to employment mainly takes place between 18 and 24. An indicator of this is 
that among 18 year-olds, 59 % were exclusively in education or training in 2007, while only 13 % were 
categorised as exclusively economically active. At the age of 24, on the other hand, the proportion has 
switched, with a majority of young people being active. Around 20 % of 18 year olds in the EU combine 
education or training with employment. For 24 year olds, the rate is slightly reduced to 16 %. 

In  some  Member  States  (Denmark,  the  Netherlands,  Austria,  the  United  Kingdom),  the  majority  of  18 
year-olds were in education or training while they were also active on the employment market. In most 
Member States, however, a majority of young people were still only in education/training and inactive on 
the labour market 

In both 2000 and 2007 at least half of all 20 year-olds were on the labour market either as unemployed or 
employed (full-time or part-time). There were striking differences across the European Union, however, 
with young people entering the labour market much earlier in some countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, 
Austria, and the United Kingdom) than in others (Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary and Romania). 

Among  24  year-olds,  a  majority  of  young  people  were  economically  active  and  not  in  education.  In 
Denmark,  however,  almost  half  combined  both  work  and  education,  while  in  the  Netherlands,  Finland 
and Slovenia three out ten 24 year-olds did the same. At the same time, these countries were among those 
that recorded the highest employment rates.  

In 16 EU Member States, more than 50 % of 15-24 year-olds were inactive in the labour market one year 
after leaving school. This is double the rate as for 25-29 year-olds.  

In a majority of EU Member States (except in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the 
United Kingdom) more than 70 % of 29 year-olds were economically active and no longer in education.  

2.2.5.  The higher the level of education, the lower the risk of unemployment 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

Employment  rate  represent  persons  in  employment  as  a  percentage  of  the  economically  active 
population. 

Unemployment  rate  represent  unemployed  persons  as  a  percentage  of  the  economically  active 
population. 

Unemployment ratio represents unemployed persons as a percentage of the total population. 

Long-term  unemployed  persons  are  persons  who  have  been  unemployed  for  one  year  or  more.  Long 
term unemployment is computed as a percentage of total unemployed in the same age group. 

Source: Eurostat, "Labour force survey: Methods and definition" 

Unemployment rates decrease with the level of education. Among EU Member States, people with lower 
secondary education are nearly 3 more times at risk of unemployment than people with higher education. 

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29 

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The  unemployment  gap  between  those  with  low  levels  and  high  levels  of  education  slightly  increased 
from 2000 to 2007. It is probable that people with a low level of education are more subject to labour 
market  adjustment,  particularly  as  economies  are  impacted  by  internationalisation  and  increasing 
competition with emerging economies. 

2.2.6.  Diplomas – no guarantee for employment 

In 2007, only 20.7 % of young Europeans who attained lower secondary education were employed one 
year after they left initial education. This proportion trebled for young people with a tertiary qualification 
(65.8 %  of  those  were  employed  one  year  after  leaving  education).  Still,  whatever  their  level  of 
education,  the  transition  to  employment  takes  time  for  a  significant  proportion  of  young  people.  The 
more demanding they are (in terms of expected wages, working conditions, etc.), the more difficult it will 
be to find a job. This may also reveal the inadequacy of some tertiary education programmes to the need 
of  the  national  labour  market.  The  majority  of  the  member  States  followed  the  European  trend  with 
Greece getting out of the lot with generally highest unemployment rates recorded among young people 
having higher level of education.  

RESEARCH FINDINGS OF THE SPREW PROJECT: SOCIAL PATTERNS OF RELATION 
TO WORK6 

Are there changing patterns of relation to work among younger and older generations? 

The overall objective of the SPReW project was to examine the factors leading to solidarity or tensions in 
intergenerational  relations,  in  the  specific  area  of  work  and  correlated  fields.  While  “age”  is  also  an 
important variable, it can be observed from the SPReW results, that other variables (in particular gender, 
but  also  education,  socio-professional  groups,  economic  development,  institutional  contexts)  may 
overwhelm the effect of the “generation” variable. 

Contrary to a widespread opinion that young people are more instrumental and less interested by work, 
young people (< 30) have a more "expressive" relation to work, i.e. a greater request for self-fulfilment in 
work  (esp.  when  they  are  highly  educated):  the  human  relations  at  work  and  the  social  usefulness  are 
important to them, as well as the opportunities to express oneself at work, the interest of the work, the 
feeling of success and the level of autonomy.  

–  Both the educational level of workers and the feminisation of the labour market increased significantly 
in recent years. Women appear to be more expressive, although they are likely to change their attitude 
when they have a family to care for. Women’s working pattern changes after maternity, from a very 
expressive to a more instrumental one. 

–  Young  people  (<  30)  are  more  exposed  to  low  wages,  precariousness  and  unemployment  although 
they  benefit  from  a  positive  educational  and  digital  differential  in  comparison  with  the  older. 
Although they are less afraid about instability and precariousness than the previous generations, they 
ask for more social protection and higher income but also for more freedom and opportunity for self-
development. 

Despite  objectives  differences,  a  “perception”  of  conflict  among  generations  does  not  really  emerge. 
Nevertheless, we should consider the possibility that more awareness of generations may initiate social 
tensions in the future. The two "extreme" groups on the labour market seem to face an identical problem, 
since both lack a fair recognition at work. 

6 

The  SPREW  project  was  funded  under  the  6th  framework  programme  of  the  European  Union  (Citizens  and 
governance programme) and involved research partners from six countries (BE, FR, DE, HU, IT, PT), running from 
May 2006 - August 2008 – Info: http://www.ftu-namur.org/sprew. 

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30 

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From one side, young people feel undervalued as for their education, whereas the older generation people 
feel undervalued as for their work experience. Above all, they fear about losing their job because they are 
aware that companies are not going to consider any longer the result of many years of learning-by-doing 
as a real resource. 

2.2.7.  Young people in unemployment 

Once  the  transition  from  education  to  employment  is  over,  a  later  step  should  be  surmounted:  find  a 
stable job. This is probably an important step for those who want to settle down (set up a family or buy a 
house). Indeed, unstable job (i.e. temporary or part-time job) might have repercussions on the family life 
such as the difficulty to get a real estate loan, to leave parental home, to set up a family, to have children. 

Unemployment rates by age group (15-24, 25-74, total), EU-27, 2008 

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

15-24

25-74

Total

Source: Eurostat (Labour Force Survey) 

Youth  unemployment  rate  (15.3 %  in  2007,  15.4 %  in  2008)  is  nearly  twice  the  percentage  observed 
among  the  whole  working  population  and  nearly  three  times  higher  than  for  the  older  economically 
active population. But the EU Member States show a large spectrum of results. In 2007; the Netherlands 
and Denmark had the lowest youth unemployment rates for (respectively at 5.9 % and 7.9 %). The only 
other Member States with youth unemployment rates below 10 % for the age class 15-24 were Austria, 
Ireland and Lithuania.  

At  the  other  extreme,  for  the  age  group  15-24  years,  youth  unemployment  rates  above  20 %  were 
recorded in Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in 2007. 

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31 

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Unemployment rate 15-24 by country, 2007 

United Kingdom
Sweden
Finland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Romania
Portugal
Poland
Austria
Netherlands
Malta
Hungary
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Latvia
Cyprus
Italy
France
Spain
Greece 
Ireland
Estonia
Germany
Denmark
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Belgium
EU 27

0

5

10

15

20

25

Source: Eurostat (Labour Force Survey) 

For the age group 25-29 unemployment rates exceeded 10 %, in Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, 
Poland  and  Slovakia.  Youth  unemployment  rates  in  Europe  as  a  whole  decreased  by  about  3 %  from 
2000  to  2007  for  both  age  groups.  At  Member  States  level,  the  situation  varies.  For  the  youngest  age 
group, four Member States (Sweden, Portugal, Hungary and Luxembourg recorded significant increases 
(more than 5 %). Regarding the oldest age group, only Portugal recorded a noteworthy raise (more than 
7 %). Nonetheless the crisis can change a lot the situation on the labour market in different countries. 

As regards gender difference, unemployment rates for young women in the EU are generally higher than 
for  young  men.  While  some  Member  States  show  small  differences  between  male  and  female  youth 
unemployment rates, there are a few countries with very significant gender gaps. The most extreme case 
is Greece, where the female youth unemployment rate is almost twice as high as for young males for both 
age groups. Other Member States with a particular large youth unemployment gender gap are Spain and 
Portugal. 

2.2.8.  Long term youth unemployment 

Young  people  in  unemployment  and  especially  those  in  long  term  unemployment  are  at  risk  of  social 
exclusion. Generally, those people have a socially unacceptable income not allowing a life which fits the 
societal standards.  

At  the  European  level  26 %  of  unemployed  aged  15-24  and  35 %  of  unemployed  25-29  were 
unemployed for 12 month or more. 

At the Member State level, there is a strong heterogeneity. For the younger age-group (15-24) the long 
term-unemployment  rate  ranges  from  less  than  4 %  in  Sweden  to  57 %  in  Slovakia.  In  Slovakia, 

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32 

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Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary and Poland more than one third of unemployed people have 
been without a job for more than one year. For the oldest age group, nearly half of the countries show 
higher rates than the EU average, which stands at 35 %.  

Generally, long term unemployment is negatively correlated with the level of education completed and it 
tends to decrease with higher education. Nevertheless, there are two exceptions - Estonia and Lithuania - 
which  recorded  the  highest  share  of  long  term  unemployment  among  young  people  who  have  tertiary 
education. 

Looking  at  the  youth  unemployment  to  population  ratio  instead  of  the  unemployment  rate  shows  a 
different picture. The European unemployment ratio in 2007 for young men aged 15-24 was 6.8 % while 
it  was  7.3 %  for  young  people  aged  25-29.  Sweden  and  Greece  registered  the  highest  youth 
unemployment ratio for young people aged 15-24 and 25-29 respectively. Lithuania displayed the lowest 
youth unemployment ratio for young people in both age groups. In some Member States, the difference 
between the unemployment rate and employment ratio is higher than 15 %. This reveals that the majority 
of young people are inactive because of education. 

2.2.9.  Working while studying, studying while working 

On  average,  around  one-third  of  European  employed  youth  aged  15-24  are  students  or  apprentices, 
compared to only 16 % of the 25–29 age group. In some countries this share is much higher: in Denmark 
and  the  Netherlands  over  65  %  of  employed  youth  are  students  or  apprentices  While  in  Finland  and 
Germany more than half of employed youth are students or apprentices. Conversely, the lowest share of 
students  or  apprentices  among  employed  young  people  was  observed  in  Romania  (about  5  %  for  both 
youth age groups).  

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

Employers employing one or more employees are defined as persons who work in their own business, 
professional  practice  or  farm  for  the  purpose  of  earning  a  profit,  and  who  employ  at  least  one  other 
person 

A  Self-employed  person  not  employing  any  employees  are  defined  as  persons  who  work  in  their  own 
business,  professional  practice  or  farm  for  the  purpose  of  earning  a  profit,  and  who  employ  no  other 
persons. 

Employees  are  defined  as  persons  who  work  for  a  public  or  private  employer  and  who  receive 
compensation in the form of wages, salaries, fees, gratuities, payment by results or payment in kind; non-
conscript members of the armed forces are also included. 

Family  workers  are  persons  who  help  another  member  of  the  family  to  run  a  farm  or  other  business, 
provided they are not classed as employees. 

Employees  with  temporary  contracts  are  those  who  declare  themselves  as  having  a  fixed  term 
employment  contract  or  a  job  which  will  terminate  if  certain  objective  criteria  are  met,  such  as 
completion of an assignment or return of the employee who was temporarily replaced. 

Full-time/part-time  pattern  of  the  main  job  is  declared  by  the  respondent  except  in  the  Netherlands, 
where part-time is determined if the usual hours are fewer than 35 hours and full-time if the usual hours 
are 35 hours or more, and in Sweden where this criterion is applied to the self-employed. 

Source: Eurostat 

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33 

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2.2.10.  Temporary contracts 

For many young people, having a temporary or part-time job may be seen as a stepping-stone towards 
permanent  employment.  However,  it  also  limits  a  person's  possibility  to  express  his  or  her  potential. 
Temporary contracts therefore limit the financial and personal autonomy of young Europeans. 

Percentage of people aged 15-24 that have a temporary job  
because they could not find permanent job, 2007 

The  share  of  young  people  on  a  temporary  contract  decreases  with  age.  At  the  European  level,  almost  
40 % of employed 15-24 year-olds work on a temporary contract, with more than 60 % on a temporary 
contract  in  Slovenia,  Poland  and  Spain.  This  is  reduced  to  around  20  %  for  the  25-29  age  group  and 
down to less than 10 % for employed people age 30-54. This shows that young people face not only a 
transition from school to work but also a transition from an unstable to a stable employment situation. 
With  such  a  situation,  there  is  a  risk  that  a  young  person  becomes  "trapped"  in  unstable  employment, 
moving from one temporary contract to another without being able to get into a permanent job.  

The use of temporary contracts is increasing. Between 2000 and 2007, there was an increase in the use of 
such contracts of about 5 %. In Poland, this increase has been even more significant. 

There  are  no  large  gender  differences  at  EU  level  with  respect  to  temporary  youth  employment.  On 
average, young women are slightly more likely to be in a temporary contract than young men, although 
there are of course differences between Member States.  

At  the  European  level,  more  than  50  %  of  low  educated  young  people  aged  15-24  have  temporary 
contracts. This percentage decreased with the level of education and was down to 38.5 % among young 
people  with  tertiary  education.  Among  young  people  aged  25-29,  around  25  %  was  on  a  temporary 
contract independent of the level of education.  

Temporary work may be either voluntary or involuntary. The later comprises persons that could not find 
a permanent job, enter a contract with a period of training or who are in a probationary period (which is 
considered as temporary work if the contract finishes automatically at its end). 

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At the European level, the majority of young people in temporary work did not choose it. This is true for 
all  EU  Member  States  except  for  Slovenia,  where  about  60  %  young  people  aged  15-24  in  temporary 
work did not want a permanent job. The proportion of young people choosing temporary work is slightly 
higher  in  the  15-24  age  group  than  among  25-29  year-olds  in  all  EU  Member  States,  except  in  the 
Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  

The percentage of persons on a temporary contract who could not find a permanent job increases with 
age. At the European level, this was the case for around 37 % of young people age 15-24, while it was  
65 % for those aged 25-29. 

2.2.11.  Part-time work 

Just  as  more  young  people  are  entering  the  labour  market  on  temporary  contracts,  they  are  also  over-
represented among employees in part-time jobs. These two conditions are often complementary: A young 
person might both have a part-time job and be on a temporary contract.  

On  average,  25  %  of  European  young  people  aged  15-24  who  are  employed  work  part-time  mainly 
because of education purposes. This is much less the case for 25-29 year olds, of which only half have 
part-time employment for the same reason.  

The percentage of young European employees who work part-time has increased from 2000 to 2007 for 
the  15-24  age  group  while  remaining  more  or  less  stable  for  the  25-29  age  group.  However,  there  is 
considerable variation, both across Member States and according to gender. While about 2 % of 25-29 
year old employees in Slovakia were working part-time, the same was the case for more than 20 % in the 
Netherlands and Denmark.  

Gender  differences  are  very  significant  when  considering  temporary  work,  with  young  women  on 
average almost twice as likely as men for working part-time. Only Romania  displayed an insignificant 
gender difference. 

While education or training were the main reasons for accepting a part-time work for the 19-24 year olds, 
reasons for having a part-time work are more balanced among the age group 25-29. The most frequent 
reason was to look after children or other family members. Other reasons include own illness or disability 
or other family or personal reasons. However, in Greece, 69 % of part-time workers aged 25-29 declared 
to be in such a job because it was not possible to find full-time employment. 

2.2.12.  Young entrepreneurs 

The proportion of young people running their own business is very low in Europe: about 4 % of young 
people  aged  15-24  and  9  %  of  the  age  group  25-29  are  self-employed.  In  all  EU  Member  States  the 
percentage of self-employed is higher in the 25-29 age group than among 15-24 year olds, and the rate of 
self-employed persons does not reach 10 % of the employed population for the age group 25-29 except in 
Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. 

During  the  period  2000-2007,  the  share  of  self-employed  young  people  in  Europe  slightly  decreased. 
Italy  had  in  2007  the  highest  percentage  of  self-employed  young  people  aged  15-29  in  Europe,  with 
double the EU average. 

In most EU Member States, men made up the majority of self-employed. There was no significant gender 
difference  in  Cyprus.  With  regard  to  age,  Belgium,  Cyprus,  Luxembourg,  Hungary,  Malta  and  Austria 
showed a higher proportion of self-employment among men aged 25-29 compared to men in the 15-24 
age  group.  The  opposite  trend  was  the  case  for  women,  with  the  highest  self-employment  rate  in  the 
youngest age category. 

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35 

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In most Member States, entrepreneurial mindsets seem to be more widespread among young people with 
upper secondary school. The exceptions in this regard are Spain, Malta and Romania, where more than 
60  %  of  self-employed  youth  aged  15-24  had  lower  education.  Luxembourg  recorded  the  same 
proportion among highly educated young people aged 25-29.  

According  to  the  Factors  of  Business  Success  Survey  (FOBS),  less  than  15  %  of  entrepreneurs  are 
younger than 30 years old, 38 % between 30 and 39 years and 48 % of them are 40 years old or over. 
This has to be considered with caution since only few EU Member States collect data. The population 
that was surveyed in this project was enterprises born in 2002, that had survived to 2005, and that were 
still managed by their founders at the time of the survey. The survey was carried out from June 2005 to 
January  2006  by  the  National  Statistical  Institutes  of  13  EU  Member  States  (the  Czech  Republic, 
Denmark, Estonia, Trance, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, 
Sweden, Bulgaria and Romania), on a voluntary basis.  

Six  out  of  10  entrepreneurs  did  not have  any  special  training.  Almost  all  of  those  who  did  go  through 
training did it on their own initiative. The exceptions here are Italy and France: in Italy about half of the 
entrepreneurs  undertook  a  special  training  on  their  own  initiative  while  one  fourth  of  French 
entrepreneurs  did  so  upon  a  public  authority’s  request.  The  same  pattern  applies  for  all  ages:  young 
entrepreneurs did not get more specific training than their older counterparts. 

Young  entrepreneurs  have  various  educational  backgrounds.  Three  groups  of  Member  States  can  be 
distinguished: In the first, a majority of entrepreneurs had an upper secondary education (Bulgaria, the 
Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  France,  Italy,  Austria,  Portugal,  Slovenia,  Slovakia  and  Sweden).  In  the 
second group, the majority had a tertiary education (Estonia, Latvia Lithuania and Luxembourg) while in 
the  third  group,  consisting  only  of  Romania,  a  majority  of  the  entrepreneurs  had  a  primary  or  lower 
secondary education. 

Among the most important motivations for starting one's own business in all countries that participated in 
the  survey  were  a  desire  for  new  challenges  and  being  one’s  own  boss.  Future  earning  is  also  an 
important  aspect  when  starting  up  its  own  business:  about  80  %  of  Czech,  Romanian,  Slovenian  and 
Slovakian entrepreneurs reported the financial aspect as main motivation.  

Avoiding unemployment could motivate young people to set up their own business. This was stated as 
being an important motivation for a majority of young entrepreneurs in all participating countries apart 
from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria, Sweden, Luxembourg and Denmark. 

2.2.13.  Focus of activity 

Participation of young people in the economic sector depends on the structure of each national economy. 
At the EU level, young people aged 15-24 are proportionally more numerous in the sectors of wholesale 
and retail trade. On the other hand, manufacturing shows the highest share of young people aged 25-29. 
These sectors were also the main ones employing older people aged 30-54.  

Half of young people aged 15-24 are employed in low skilled or elementary occupations. Nearly 20 % 
are employed either as legislators, senior officials and manager, professionals or technicians or associates 
professionals. Of course, youth aged 15-24 are underrepresented in senior or management positions given 
their young age and their lack of experience.  

About 4 out of ten young people aged 25-29 has skilled non manual positions and more than 25 % are 
occupied as skilled manual employees. The proportion of young adults working in elementary and low 
skilled non manual occupations stands at 35 %.

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36 

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KEY FIGURES RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE 

•  57.5 % of young Europeans aged 15-29 are considered as economically active (meaning that they are 

either employed or actively seeking employment) 

•  More  than  one  third  of  young  people  aged  15-24  are  NEETs  (Not  in  Education,  Employment  or 

Training) 

•  The unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 considered economically active was 15.4 % in 

2008, almost three times as high as for the older economically active population 

•  Half of young people aged 20 are on the labour market 

•  26 % of unemployed 15-24 year-olds and 35% of unemployed 25-29 year-olds have been unemployed 

for more than 12 months 

•  One third of employed 15-24 year-olds are students or apprentices 

•  Half of employed 15-24 year-olds are in a low skilled or elementary occupation 

•  40% of employed 15-24 year-olds work on a temporary contract 

•  25 % of employed 15-24 year-olds have a part-time job 

•  4 % of youth aged 15-24 are self-employed entrepreneurs, while the same goes for 9% of 25-29 year-

olds 

2.3. 

Young people and social exclusion  

2.3.1.  Unequal access to opportunities 

Unequal access to opportunities tends to deepen the gap between young people's life prospects.  

The  prospects  of  young  people  vary  widely,  according  to  their  socio-economic  background  and  other 
variables.  A  number  of  youth  groups  are  more  exposed  to  social  exclusion  and  poverty  than  others. 
Amongst the factors leading to this situation are early school dropouts, low educational achievements, a 
migrant  or  Roma  background,  mental  health  problems,  a  low  socioeconomic  background,  disability, 
exposure to violence and substance abuse.7  

The  problems  experienced  by  such  groups  of  youth  can,  amongst  others,  be  translated  into  decreased 
access  to  necessary  services,  poor  health,  lack  of  decent  housing  or  homelessness,  financial  exclusion, 
reduced participation in the community and further exclusion from the labour market and, consequently, 
shorter  life  expectancy.  Accordingly,  access  to  education  and  training,  increased  opportunities  for 
entering the labour market (including measures to facilitate the transition from school to work), provision 
of decent housing and quality health care, access to basic services such as transport and to other services 
such  as  financial  services  (e.g.  credit),  are  among  the  welfare  goods  facilitating  opportunities  and 
supporting integration within society8.  

2.3.2.  Living conditions  

Children  and  young  people,  in  particular  from  disadvantaged  backgrounds,  face  higher  risk  of  social 
exclusion  and  poverty.  Data  shows  that  living  conditions  during  childhood  and  young  age  have  a 

7 
8 

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/poverty_social_exclusion_en.htm 
EU indicators, European Commission Staff Working Document, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs 
and Equal Opportunities Units E2 and E4, 2008. 

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37 

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significant  impact  on  further  life  prospects.9  There  is  a  vicious  circle  of  intergenerational  inheritance 
following from growing up in a household defined as being at risk of poverty and social exclusion and 
thus  having  less  access  to  opportunities.  Of  the  16  %  of  Europeans  at  risk  of  poverty,  19  million  are 
children (age 0-17). Children are often at greater risk-of-poverty than the rest of the population (19 % in 
the EU, 2007 figures). This is true in most countries except in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus and 
Slovenia. Child poverty rates range from 10 % in Denmark to 25 % in Italy and Romania. 

Rate of people at risk-of-poverty in the EU (%), whole population and children, 2005 

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

d
e
n
r
e
c
n
o
c
n
o
at
ul
p
o
p
al
ot

i

t

of
% 

EU25 DK FI CY DE SI FR NL BE AT SE BG* CZ  SK MT EE LU PT IE EL ES UK IT LT RO* HU LV PL

Children (0-17)

Total

Source: SILC (2006) 

A detailed analysis of the determinants of child poverty (age 0-17) was carried out in 2007 by the Social 
Protection  Committee,  leading  to  a  detailed  diagnosis  of  the  main  causes  of  child  poverty  in  each 
country10. The analysis confirms that child poverty outcomes result from complex interactions between 
joblessness,  in-work  poverty  (of  households)  and  the  impact  of  social  transfers,  and  that  the  countries 
achieving  the  best  outcomes  are  those  performing  well  on  all  fronts,  notably  by  combining  strategies 
aimed at facilitating access to employment and enabling services (child care etc.) with income support. 
Accordingly,  the  extent  to  with  lone  households  and  large  families  experience  greater  risk  of  poverty 
depends  both  on  their  characteristics  (age,  education  level  of  parents,  etc.),  and  on  the  labour  market 
situation of the parents (joblessness, in-work poverty, etc.), which can be influenced by the availability of 
adequate  support  through  access  to  enabling  services  such  as  childcare,  measures  of  reconciliation  of 
work and family life, and in-work income support. This situation will follow children as they grow older. 

2.3.3.  Young people at risk of poverty 

20 % of young people aged 18-24 are regarded as being in risk of poverty (defined as having an income 
below 60 % of the national median income). One in five young people find themselves in this situation. 
Young  adults  face  a  higher  risk  of  poverty  as  support  from  their  parental  home  diminishes  and 
integration to the labour market is still in an early stage. The rate of young people aged 18-24 at risk of 

9 

10 

"Child  Poverty  and  Well-being  in  the  EU,  current  status  and  way  forward",  Social  Protection  Committee,  January 
2008: EU indicators, European Commission Staff Working Document, Directorate-General for Employment, Social 
Affairs and Equal Opportunities Units E2 and E4, 2008. 
"Child  Poverty  and  Well-being  in  the  EU,  current  status  and  way  forward",  Social  Protection  Committee,  January 
2008 

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poverty, when looking at their earned income, varies greatly across EU countries, from less than 10 % in 
Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia to 30 % or more in Denmark and Sweden11.  

However, when trying to assess young people's actual living conditions, figures on youth income have to 
be  interpreted  with  great  caution  and  supplemented  with  knowledge  on  other  determinants  on  poverty 
and  social  exclusion,  as  this  indicator  alone  does  not  accurately  reflect  the  living  conditions  of  young 
people, covering access to resources and to opportunities. This implies that the earned income of young 
people  on  its  own  does  not  give  an  accurately  reflect  whether  a  young  person  is  deprived  of 
opportunities, or if their life prospects are under threat.  

Young people, who have left the parental home, have often limited financial means, but they nevertheless 
have access to housing and can benefit from their own source of income, through work, student loans or 
benefits. They might also receive financial support12 from their family, which means that living on one's 
own is not always a sign of self-sufficiency. In average, young people left the parental home at a mean 
age of 25 years. Thus, a majority of young people in Denmark and Finland have left the parental home, 
unlike most young people in other EU countries where between 66 % and 88 % of 18-24 year-olds are 
still  living  with  their  parents13.  Among  the  reasons  for  this  is  access  to  student  loans  or  benefits,  or 
financial support from their family. Moreover young people who have left their parental home often have 
access to housing, despite very limited income. Young people living with their parents are likely to face a 
lower  risk  of  being  in  a  risk  situation,  since  they  benefit  directly  from  the  income  of  their  parents. 
However, further analysis would be needed to determine, whether they stay with their parents by choice, 
or because they cannot become self-sufficient through lack of access to employment14 and housing. 

11 

12 

13 

14 

Social  protection  and  social  inclusion  2008:  EU  indicators,  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for 
Employment, Social Affaires and Equal Opportunities, Units E.2 and E.4, October 2008. 
Financial support from parents is recorded as income in EU-SILC under the inter-household transfer component only 
insofar as these transfers are regular. 
Social  protection  and  social  inclusion  2008:  EU  indicators,  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  for 
Employment, Social Affaires and Equal Opportunities, Units E.2 and E.4, October 2008. 
The Commission working document accompanying the 2007 Commission Communication 'Promoting young 
people's full participation in education, employment and society' provides a detailed analysis of the employment 
situation of young people together with a revival of Member State policies to foster youth employment in the context 
of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. See: 
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/employment_strategy/pdf/youthswd_2007_en.pdf. 

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39 

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At risk of poverty rate of age groups 16-24 and 24-49 , 2006 

18 % of young people aged 18-24 earn less than half the average income for the country they live in. 27 
% of young people earn less than 60 % (the income level below 60 % of the median income is defined as 
"at risk of poverty"), and 11 % of young people earn less than 40 % of the average national income (in 
2006).  

KEY FIGURES RELATING TO SOCIAL INCLUSION OF YOUNG PEOPLE 

•  19 million children (age 0-17) are at risk of poverty in the EU 

•  20 % of young people aged 18-24 are at risk of poverty 

•  In average, young people leave the parental home at 25 years of age (mean age) 

•  18 % of young people aged 18-24 earn less than half the average income for the country they live in 

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3. 

ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP 

3.1. 

Citizenship and participation 

3.1.1.  Active citizenship: today’s choices, the life of tomorrow’s community 

Active citizenship of young people, as the “political participation and participation in associational life 
characterized  by  tolerance  and  non  violence  and  the  acknowledgement  of  the  rule  of  law  and  human 
rights”15,  is  a  key  component  of  the  future  of  European  Union.  It  is  also  a  political  priority  at  the 
European level. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

The term citizenship is used to express three different concepts which can be used simultaneously: 

•  what a citizen is, i.e. his or her status; 

•  what a citizen can or cannot do, i.e. in terms of rights and duties; and 

•  which activities a citizen undertakes, i.e. a set of practices that demonstrate his/ her or membership of 

a society. 

3.1.2. 

Information: the key to participation? 

Information of young people is, on the basis of the White Paper on Youth16, a priority at the European 
level. It is increasingly seen as key for ensuring their access to social and civic opportunities.  

According  to  the  2006  Commission  analysis  of  national  reports  under  the  Youth  open  method  of 
coordination17,  12  Member  States  presented  comprehensive  youth  information  strategies  (Austria, 
Belgium,  Spain,  Finland,  France,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  Portugal,  Slovenia,  Slovakia,  Netherlands,  and 
Czech Republic).  

18  Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  Denmark,  Spain,  Estonia,  Greece, 
Finland,  France,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Latvia,  Malta,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Slovenia,  and  United 
Kingdom) had also created youth web portals at this time. 

Data about 20 Member States is currently available in the European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy 
(EKCYP) database, and over 2300 information points at national or regional level are registered. 

3.1.3.  Youth Participation  

On the basis of the White Paper on Youth, participation of young people is – like information – a priority 
of  the  EU  open  method  of  coordination.  Two  kinds  of  participation  have  been  identified  by  Member 
States  as  common  objectives  for  increasing  participation  of  young  people:  participation  in  community 
life and participation in representative democracy. 

Since the publication of the White Paper, a number of Member States have clarified or strengthened the 
legal rules governing participation by young people. These provisions often refer to the legal recognition 

15 
16 
17 

Indicators for active citizenship and citizens' education. Research report for the European Commission, DG EAC 
European Commission White Paper of 21 November 2001 on a new impetus for European youth, COM(2001) 681 
Commission Staff Working Document SEC(2006) 1006 

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41 

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of local youth councils or the powers devolved to national youth councils. A number of Member States 
have  made  participation  by  young  people  a  national  priority  through  the  adoption  of  annual  or 
multiannual  strategic  plans.  All  EU  Member  States  have  representative  structures  in  schools  and 
universities  and,  increasingly,  youth  councils  and  children's  or  youth  parliaments.  (Commission  Staff 
Working  Document:  Analysis  of  national  reports  submitted  by  the  Member  States  concerning 
participation by and information for young people).  

The following analysis is mainly based upon Eurobarometer surveys, the Member States' national reports 
on  participation  of  young  people  and  information  available  in  the  EKCYP  system.  Information  on  a 
number of Member States is missing, and it is not possible to identify overall pan-European trends. For 
the  future,  improving  data  definition  and  collection  about  the  following  issues  is  recommended: 
membership of trade unions and youth organisations, participation in elections, numbers of young people 
elected  at  regional  and  local  level,  definition  of  ‘youth  councils’  and  other  participatory  structures, 
percentage of young people who are members of youth organisations (some Member States include, for 
example,  membership  of  sports  clubs),  or  categorisation  of  different  types  of  financial  support. 
Nevertheless, a first picture of the developments in youth participation can be given.  

3.1.4.  A decline in traditional membership of organisations 

Membership in organisations, associations and clubs does not seem to be very appealing to young people 
in the European Union: Only 22 % of young people answered "yes" to the question: "are you member of 
an organisation?" 

There  is  a  clear  division  between  the  northern  Member  States,  where  young  people  are  more  often 
members  of  clubs  and  associations,  and  the  southern  Member  States,  where  such  membership  is  less 
extensive. 

Previous  surveys  in  1997  and  2001  indicate  that  membership  of  sports  clubs  is  very  popular.  This  is 
confirmed in the reporting from 2007: almost half of young persons (49 %) are members of a sports club. 

Far behind follows memberships in youth organisations and cultural associations (8 %), trade unions and 
hobby  clubs  (7 %),  political  parties  and  religious  associations  (5 %).  Human  rights  movements  and 
consumer organisations have the smallest number of young memberships. 

But  young  people  still  participate  in a  lot  of  activities.  Recreational  groups  and  religious  organisations 
and  were  the  most  popular  engagements  for  European  youth  in  2006.  26.8 %  of  the  young  men  (aged 
between  16  and  29)  interviewed  took  part  in  recreational  activities  through  dedicated  groups  or 
organisations, and 18.9 % of young women interviewed did so during the last 12 months. Religion is still 
a common way of being active in society, with a 20.1 % of young women practicing this option and 16 % 
of  young  men.  Only  few  young  people  (less  than  4 %)  participated  in  activities  of  political  parties  or 
trade unions during 2006. 

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42 

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Some examples of trade unions membership among young people 13-30  

Country 

Finland 

Germany  

Greece 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Percentage (estimate) 

10 

3.7 

2.3 

0.05 

3.9 

6.04 

United Kingdom 

10  %  of  people  aged  16-24,  and  24  %  of 
people aged 25-34 

Source: European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy (EKCYP) 2006-2007 

Percentage of the population aged 16-29 that participated in the last 12 months in activities of…, 
by sex, EU-25, 2006 

Men aged 16-29 have been more active than women in the last 12 months in getting involved in political 
parties,  trade  unions,  professional  associations  and  recreational  groups.  Women  participated  more  in 
church activities and other religious organisations and charitable activities.  

There is no substantial difference between the participation rate of young people (16 – 29) and the overall 
population. 

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Percentage of the population of age group that participated 
in the last 12 months in activities of…, EU-25, 2006 

3.1.5. 

Interest in participative democracy 

When  asked  which  political  actions  are  most  important  to  ensure  that  their  voice  is  heard  by  policy 
makers, 30 % of young Europeans list participating in debates as the most important activity. Joining a 
political party comes second (16 %) and taking part in a demonstration third (13 %). Signing a petition, 
being  a  member  of  or  supporting  a  non-governmental  organization  (NGO),  or  joining  a  trade  union  is 
equally recognized as an effective way of political activism by 11 % of European youth (Eurobarometer 
2007 survey on Youth). More than one in four young people signed a petition during the last year, and 
almost  the  same  number  presented  his  or  her  view  in  an  online  discussion  forum.  One  in  five  young 
Europeans took part in a public demonstration. 

The  highest  level  of  overall  political  involvement  among  young  persons  was  recorded  in  Denmark, 
Finland and Sweden, and the lowest in Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary and Malta. 

Young men tend to be more active, in particular when presenting their view in an online forum or taking 
part in a public demonstration. 

Young Europeans living in a metropolitan or urban area are more likely to be involved than those from 
rural areas. 

3.1.6.  Legal framework for participation structures  

The above mentioned 2006 Commission synthesis report analysed which actions had been implemented 
by Member States to support the participation structures.  

This  report  shows  that  the  legal  framework  for  youth  participation  has  been  improved.  Some  Member 
States  have  adopted  legislation,  others  have  strategic  action  plans  or  agreed  obligations  for  the 
consultation of young people. This may be an act that requires each local authority to recognise/establish 
one or more youth councils (Belgium), a policy concept (the Czech Republic), a budget for participation 
(Denmark), a local youth act (Finland), a social code (Germany), a national action plan, a youth law or an 
act  (Lithuania,  Slovakia,  Slovenia),  or  acts  that  regulate  agreements  between  non-governmental 
organisations and the Government (Luxembourg) or which require young people to be consulted (United 
Kingdom).  There  may  also  be  mechanisms  or  legislation  encouraging  the  self-organisation  of  young 
people by regulating the process for the establishment and structuring of youth representation (Bulgaria).  

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In  at  least  six  Member  States  the  existence  of  school  councils  is  a  requirement  by  law.  In  Sweden,  a 
national  campaign  called  School  elections  2006  ('Skolval  2006')  was  carried  out  in  1.400  schools  all 
across the country a few days before the ordinary national, regional and local parliamentary elections.  

In  most  Member  States,  activities  are  aimed  towards  all  young  people,  but  with  special  emphasis  on 
certain  groups.  The  types  of  groups  differ  per  Member  State,  but  often  include  immigrants/ethnic 
minorities, women, homosexuals, disabled, unemployed or young drug addicts. 

3.1.7.  Youth councils  

The definition, structure and form of youth councils differ between Member States. Almost two thirds of 
the  Member  States  have  local  youth  councils.  Data  from  EKCYP  indicate  that  every  municipality  in 
Greece and the Flemish part of Belgium has a youth council. In the United Kingdom, there are more than 
400  local  youth  councils  although  there  is  no  uniform  structure  for  them.  Sweden  has  around  50  local 
youth  councils,  but  here  the  organisation  differs  per  municipality;  a  number  of  Swedish  municipalities 
have  mechanism  for  a  regular  dialogue  with  young  people.  Finland  has  20  youth  councils  which  are 
elected by local authorities and operate within municipal structures. In addition, Finland has 180 youth 
councils elected by young people themselves (there are 400 municipalities). Germany and Italy and the 
Netherlands  report  a  considerable  number  of  local  youth  councils  (200,  471  and  124  respectively).  In 
new Member States, local youth councils are being formed; Estonia reported 4 in 2005 which increased 
to 20 in 2007, in Slovenia 39 youth councils were established after 2000, and in Romania there are 28. 
For Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the possibility exists to create youth councils; while in Lithuania 
46 out of 60 municipalities already have a youth council.  

At the regional level, 15 Member States report having regional youth councils, although some have only 
one. In several countries, the regional youth councils cover most regions: in Germany all "Länder" have a 
council, Estonia has councils at the county government level while the Slovak Republic has one in each 
region  (8  in  total).  Greece  has  prefectural  youth  councils;  Lithuania  has  25  regional  councils  and  the 
Czech  Republic  12.  In  Denmark  all  city  or  district  councils  have  a  youth  council,  and  Austria  and  the 
Flemish part of Belgium both have 5 regional councils. The Netherlands, Romania and Bulgaria have to 
regional  youth  councils  each.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  the  regional  youth  councils  are  the  same  as  the 
regional youth parliaments.  

Almost all Member States have a national youth council. In most cases, it is an umbrella organisation of 
which other youth organisations are members (between 25 and 100 members). National Youth Councils, 
besides Europeans or International youth NGOs, are normally members of the European Youth Forum. 

3.1.8.  Youth parliaments 

7 Member States reported having youth parliaments at the local level. The structures vary, however, and 
so  does  the  number  of  youth  parliaments.  Germany  has  the  highest  number  (300-350)  followed  by  the 
Czech Republic (around 300) and Austria (more than 100). Estonia and Bulgaria report on several local 
parliaments or councils, and Sweden has a few. Finland has no official structures, but reports on internet-
based parliamentary forums for children.  

At the regional level, although 6 Member States report some activity, the number of initiatives is, in most 
cases, limited (some initiatives in Austria (2), Finland (1), Italy (4), Slovenia (2) and the Netherlands). 
The  UK  parliament  has  a  network  of  regional  contacts,  and  the  Czech  Republic  reports  of  15  regional 
youth parliaments. 

At the national level, 13 Member States reported having a youth parliament although the way they are 
organised  differ  considerably.  In  many  countries,  the  youth  parliament  is  organised  annually,  as  a  one 
day event or on a project basis. In Estonia, the youth parliament is a body with member organisations. In 

EN 

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Latvia the National Youth Parliament was established in 2004. In the Netherlands, a youth government 
(Jugendkabinet) was established in 2007. The UK has a youth parliament with 300 elected members, in 
Wales  there  is  a  Youth  Assembly,  Scotland  has  a  Youth  Parliament  and  there  is  a  Youth  Forum  for 
Northern Ireland. 

3.1.9.  Other participatory structures 

The most common participatory structures are school and student councils, pupil and scholar parliaments, 
and  information  and  consultancy  services  for  young  people.  Other  examples  are  open  forums,  such  as 
consultation  hours,  and  project  related  forms  of  participation  such  as  playgrounds  and  youth  centres 
(Austria), advisory bodies of youth boards and youth clubs (Cyprus). There are also youth organisations 
and  adult  organisations  endorsing  children’s  rights  (Czech  Republic),  opinion  organisations  of 
youngsters (Finland) and interactive websites.  

The structures within ministries and other public authorities for the participation of young people seem to 
be more numerous and better developed in some countries (such as Finland, Sweden, and Denmark), in 
comparison to others (such as Hungary, Greece, UK, Austria, Lithuania and Slovenia). 

3.1.10.  Youth interest in politics 

If we consider the results of the European Social Survey, young people aged 16-24 and 25-29 seem to 
show a low interest in politics. A majority of young people declare that they are hardly or not interested 
in politics, whilst only 6 % declare that they are very interested. Among older generations, the percentage 
of those very interested in politics is more than twice as high.  

The  interest  in  politics  increases  with  age:  36 %  of  people  aged  30  and  over  declared  to  be  quite 
interested  in  politics,  whereas  26 %  and  30 %,  respectively,  of  people  aged  16-24  and  25-29  years  old 
gave the same answer.  

Apart from the generational gap, interest in politics also shows gender differences. Young men respond 
more often than young women that they are interested in politics. Almost 40 % of young males declared 
that  they  are  quite  or  very  interested  in  politics,  while  a  little  less  than  30 %  of  females  showed  such 
interest. Overall, European youth is seemingly still distant from politics. 62 % of young men and 70 % of 
young women declare that they are hardly interested or not interested at all in politics. 

Some examples of membership of political parties among young people aged 13-30 

COUNTRY 

Czech Republic 

Finland 

Estonia 

Germany 

Romania 

Slovak Republic 

Sweden 

PERCENTAGE 

1.2 (2005) 

2 (2006) 

4 (2007) 

2.8 (2007) 

0.32 (2007) 

9.95 (2006) 

4 (2006) 

Source: European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy (EKCYP)

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To contradict the findings in the European Social Survey in 2006, a Eurobarometer survey on youth from 
2007 indicated that young Europeans are indeed interested in politics. A majority of respondents say that 
they are very interested or interested in politics and current affairs: 82 % of them are interested in politics 
in  their  own  country,  73 %  claim  to  be  interested  at  a  city  or  regional  level,  and  66 %  say  they  are 
interested in politics and current affairs in the EU. 

In  the  Eurobarometer  survey,  young  Greeks  have  the  highest  level  of  interest  in  politics  and  current 
affairs,  while  young  people  in  Romania,  Belgium  and  the  Czech  Republic  have  the  lowest  level  of 
interest in politics in general. 

Older  and  highly  educated  young  persons,  and  those  who  live  in  a  metropolitan  area,  are  the  most 
interested in politics at all levels. 

These  findings,  which  may  seem  contradictory,  could  suggest  that  while  young  people  may  be  less 
interested in traditional party politics, they are indeed engaged in current public and political affairs or 
topics that have a direct impact on their daily lives or on their future in the longer term (for example on 
climate change). 

THE CIVICWEB PROJECT: YOUNG PEOPLE, THE INTERNET AND CIVIC 
PARTICIPATION 18 

Does the Internet contribute to civic engagement and participation among young people? 

The CIVICWEB analyses the Internet as a potentially powerful tool for non-formal learning, affecting the 
development  of  social  capital,  and  civic,  political,  social  and  economic  participation  among  young  people 
(aged 15-25). It focuses specifically on the range of civic sites now emerging on the web, created by many 
different organisations, interest groups and individuals, ranging from small-scale, local initiatives to national 
and international projects. 

An online survey among 3.307 young internet users in the seven participating countries (partly "recruited" at 
the MTV website) reveals that young people are mainly interested in lifestyle and entertainment issues on the 
internet. Civic participation is only relevant for some 10 % of respondents, with social justice, spiritual and 
environmental issues being most "popular". Political issues are the least popular item, but interest in civic and 
political websites appears to be stronger among older young respondents, in particular those not living with 
their parents, youth that identify as religious, and among girls and young women. 

Gender appears to be a quite significant socio-economic variable, but –surprisingly– education level does not 
constitute  a  main  feature.  Participation  in  offline  and  online  activities  turns  out  to  be  strongly  correlated; 
demonstrating that online and offline are complementary to each other, rather than substitutive. Websites by 
‘specialist’ groups (based on identity or locality) and aimed at a very specific audience (and often produced 
by members of that specific group) support a sense of belonging and ‘community’ and are more 'used'. 

Regarding  the  production  of  civic  websites  for  young  people,  the  internet  is  mostly  regarded  as  a  cheap 
method of disseminating information and making contact with young people. However, for a website to be 
known,  a  lot  of  thought  needs  to  be  given  to  marketing  and  publicity.  Most  civic  website  producers  have 
neither the time nor the money to adequately publicise their sites and hence the core of users remain relatively 

18 

EN 

The  CIVICWEB  project  was  funded  under  the  6th  framework  programme  of  the  European  Union  (Citizens  and 
governance  programme)  and  involved  research  partners  from  seven  countries  (UK,  Sweden,  The  Netherlands, 
Hungary,  Spain,  Slovenia  and  Turkey), 
Info: 
http://www.civicweb.eu/. 

from  September  2006 

-  August  2009  – 

running 

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small.  They  mostly  function  with  a  combination  of  one  or  two  part  time  paid  employees  and  several 
voluntary staff. There is a fairly high turnover of volunteer staff at many of the civic websites surveyed 
and sometimes this leads to the website not being updated for months or even to its closure. 

Static websites composed of visual images and written text are still the norm, though some funders of sites 
appear  to  think  that  complex  and  more  expensive  sites  are  automatically  'better'.  But  offering  interactivity 
does not automatically mean that young people participate. Forums and interactive applications have to be 
carefully  encouraged,  motivated  and  managed.  Interaction  with  the  public  sphere  from  young  people’s 
perspective  appears  to  be  most  successful  when  it  is  both  peer-to-peer  and  enables  opportunities  for 
reciprocal  engagement  with  those  in  power  –  though  reciprocity  is  rarely  the  case.  Dealing  with 
controversial issues of social justice (sexuality, gender, etc.) can provoke strong and negative responses 
from some members of the public. 

3.1.11.  Participation by young people in the mechanisms of representative democracy 

The age at which people are eligible to vote is 18 for national elections19, with the exception of Austria, 
where the age was lowered from 18 to 16 in 2007. In Italy, the age at which people are eligible to vote is 
also 18, except for elections to the Senate, for which the minimum age is 25.  

In most Member States, the age at which people are eligible to stand for election is 18 as well. However, 
there are variations from 18 to 40, especially for candidates standing for election as president or in senate 
(candidates must be over 40 years for Italian and Czech Senates for instance).  

Percentage of young people aged 13-30 who voted in recent elections, some countries 

Compulsory 
vote 

European 
Parliament 
elections (2004) 

National elections  Regional 
elections 

Austria 

NO 

40 % 

78 % 

Between  66-80  % 
(according  to  the 
federal states) 

Belgium 
Flanders 

YES 

100 % 

100 % 

100 % 

Finland 

NO 

26 % 

Luxembourg  YES 

Malta 

Romania 

Slovak 
Republic 

NO 

NO 

NO 

24 % 

N/A 

9.7 % 

56 % 

100 % 

24 % 

65.8 % 

44.9 % 

40 % 

Sweden 

NO 

26.5% of 18-24 

76.6 % 

69.9 % 

31.6% of 25-29  

19 

The voting age for local elections in some Federal States of Germany has been lowered to 16 in the 1990s. 

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United 
Kingdom 

NO 

45 % of 18-24 

45 % of 18-24 

53 % of 25-34 

53 % of 25-34 

Source: European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy (EKCYP) 

These  results  are  in  line  with  the  results  of  the  Eurobarometer  2007:  asked  if  they  have  voted  in  an 
election or referendum in the last three years, 62 % of young Europeans state that they did vote, 13 % 
that they did not vote, while less than one in four was not yet eligible to vote. 

The  largest  percentages  of  young  persons  who  did  not  vote  in  an  election  or  a  referendum  in  the  past 
three  years  is  found  in  Latvia,  the  United  Kingdom  and  Portugal,  and  the  smallest  percentages  in 
Belgium  (where  voting  is  compulsory)  followed  by  Sweden  and  Italy.  Almost  all  Member  States  have 
launched campaigns to encourage young people to vote (Commission staff working document: Analysis 
of  national  reports  submitted  by  the  Member  States  concerning  participation  by  and  information  for 
young people (SEC (2006) 1006). 

Asked which measures would help to be more active as a citizen in the society, 19 % answered "if the 
voting age would be lower". 

The post European elections 2004 Flash Eurobarometer survey (162) shows that at European level, the 
propensity  to  abstain  from  voting  is  higher  when  the  voter  is  young  (or  a  manual  worker).  More  than 
two-thirds  of  voters  between  18  and  24  (67%,  compared  to  54.3%)  on  the  average)  did  not  go  to  the 
polls. Conversely, a minority of people over 55 chose to abstain (41%). People between 25 and 39 were 
overrepresented (together with women, people who studied for a long time and employees) among "one-
day  abstentionists",  people  who  decide  the  very  day  of  the  election  not  to  vote.  They  are  thus  a  group 
which can most easily be mobilised, all the more as young people also tend to feel not being sufficiently 
informed  about  elections.  The  European  Parliament  Eurobarometer  (EB  Standard  70)  survey  from 
autumn 2008 points out that the age group of the 17 – 24 year olds failed to answer the question about the 
date of the next European elections more frequently than any other age group. 

The same European Parliament's survey shows that when asked about elements relative to the sense of 
European citizenship, young people between 15 and 24 years clearly distinguish themselves from their 
elders  regarding  the  following  three  areas:  24%  of  young  people  (EU  average:  18%)  think  that  a 
European  identity  card  in  addition  to  a  national  identity  card  would  strengthen  the  sense  of  European 
Citizenship.  21%  support  being  able  to  vote  in  all  elections  organised  in  the  Member  State  where  one 
resides as opposed to the 19% of older respondents and 21% support a European civic education course 
for children from primary school age as opposed to 18% of older respondents. 

3.1.12.  Promoting participation through the European Union 

Promoting participation is one of the priorities of the EU Strategy for Youth: Investing and Empowering 
(2010-2018).  The  main  objective  of  this  priority  is  to  ensure  the  full  participation  of  young  people  in 
society through encouraging youth participation in non-governmental youth organisations, civic life and 
in  representative  democracy.  Promoting  the  participation  of  non-organised  young  people  is  stressed  as 
important.  

The  European  Union  concretely  supports  projects  aimed  at  enhancing  participation  of  young  people 
through the Youth in Action Programme (2007-2013). 

"Participation  of  young  people"  is  one  of  the  four  permanent  priorities  of  the  Programme.  More  than 
4.100 projects supported through the programme in 2007 (75 % of the projects granted) were described 
by the promoters as targeting this particular priority. 

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The Youth in Action Programme, which succeeded the previous EU YOUTH Programme (2000 – 2006), 
includes two actions of particular relevance to participation: 

–  Action  1.3  Youth  Democracy  Projects/  A  Youth  Democracy  Project  is  developed  by  a  European 
partnership, allowing the pooling of ideas, experiences and methodologies from projects or activities 
at local, regional, national or European level towards improving young people’s participation. 

–  Action 5.1 Meetings of young people and those responsible for youth policy/ This sub-action supports 
cooperation,  seminars  and  structured  dialogue  between  young  people  who  are  active  in  youth  work 
and youth organisations and who address issues related to youth policy. 

In 2007, which was the first year of implementation of the new Programme, the participation in these two 
actions was the following: 

–  more than 5.300 young people participated in 54 projects under sub-Action 1.3; 

–  more than 7.900 young people participated in 41 projects under sub-Action 5.1. 

Provisional figures for 2008 suggest a further increase in the interest for these actions. 

Beyond the Youth in Action Programme, Representations of the European Commission in member States 
have supported a wide range of actions with the aim of improving participation and active citizenship of 
young  people.  Activities  include  simulations  of  EU  institutions,  debating  activities,  competitions  and 
workshops with youth organisations on selected topics. 

Moreover,  among  the  "Plan  D/Debate  Europe"  projects  supported  by  the  European  Commission  (DG 
Communication)  following  the  call  for  proposals  in  2007/2008,  26  projects  specifically  addressed  the 
promotion  of  active  participation  of  through  democratic  debate.  Activities  that  were  funded  include 
online consultations, polls, group debates and mock parliaments. Activities were generally organised by 
non-governmental  youth  organisations,  local  authorities,  universities  and  schools.Similar  activities  will 
also be carried out in 2009. 

3.1.13.  Trust in institutions  

Confidence in institutions may be considered a prerequisite to becoming active citizens. As pointed out 
by  the  Organisation  for  Economic  Co-operation  and  Development  (OECD)20,  “trust  in  political 
institutions refers to the extent to which individuals have a high degree of confidence in the institutions 
(government and parliament) and public administration of the country where they live”.  

The  European  Social  Survey  has  asked  people  how  much  they  personally  trust  each  of  the  institutions 
that were mentioned to them21. Results show that Europeans have a lack of trust of towards their national 
political  institutions.  Less  than  40 %  of  young  people  aged  between  16  and  29  have  trust  in  (or  are 
neutral towards) politicians and political parties. On this issue, there is not great difference between age-
groups. While older generations tend to trust (or be neutral towards) politicians slightly more than young 
people,  young  people  tend  to  be  more  positive  toward  political  parties.  The  percentage  of  people 
(independent of age) that distrust their country parliament is slightly over 50 %. However, the distrust of 
politicians in general is even higher than for the institution of the parliament. 

20 
21 

OECD, “Society at glance” 2006. 
European Social Survey, www.europeansocialsurvey.org (ESS2 and ESS 3) 

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50 

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Trust  (or  neutral  feeling)  in  police  and  in  the  legal  system  is  higher  in  the  total  population.  75 %  of 
people  aged  30  and  over  trust  the  police,  while  for  the  age  group  under  30,  the  percentage  is  70. 
Furthermore, 60 % of the total population trust the legal system of their country.  

People, and especially the young generation, tend to be more positive towards international institutions. 
Young people  aged  between 16 and 29 have more trust in the United Nations than older people: more 
than  70 %  of  youth  trust  the  UN  (with  rates  of  more  than  75 %  in  the  Nordic  countries)  whereas  they 
have only 66 % of trust from the older generation.  

It  is  commonly  know  that  the  European  Union  suffers  from  what  can  be  labelled  a  democratic  deficit, 
and is working to overcome this problem. Trust in the European Parliament, which is the only directly 
elected body of the European Union, is nevertheless above 50 %. 63 % of the population younger than 30 
trust the European Parliament while 52 % in the population aged 30 and over trusted the same institution. 
However, in nearly half the countries for which data is available, more than one third of young people 
below 30 responded that they mistrust the European Parliament. Such mistrust reaches more than 40 % in 
Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom and is also the case for those aged between 25 and 29 years 
in  Latvia,  Hungary  and  Poland.  The  distrust  of  the  European  Parliament  is  lower  in  other  countries, 
especially  in  Belgium,  Denmark  and  Estonia,  where  less  than  one  fourth  of  all  respondents  below  30 
expressed such suspicion. 

3.2. 

Voluntary activities 

The historical context of voluntary activities among young people differs throughout Europe. While there 
is  a  long  and  continuous  tradition  of  volunteering  in  Western  Europe,  Central  and  Eastern  European 
countries  has  had  to  re-develop  frameworks  for  voluntary  activities  and  service  after  the  fall  of 
communism.  This  must  be  taken  into  account  when  analysing  the  current  state  of  play  and  recent 
developments in the field of volunteering.  

Partly because of this reason, the availability of data varies considerably among countries and must be 
assessed  in  a  historical  and  cultural  context.  In  some  countries,  systems  for  data  collection  on 
volunteering are not  well  developed, and understandings of terms/concepts related to voluntary service 
may vary considerably. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

Voluntary  activities  are  all  kinds  of  voluntary  engagement.  They  are  characterised  by  the  following 
aspects: open to all, unpaid, undertaken by own free will, educational (non-formal learning aspect) and 
added social value. 

Voluntary service is part of voluntary activities and is characterised by the following additional aspects: 
fixed period; clear objectives, content, tasks, structure and framework; appropriate support and legal and 
social protection. 

Civic service is a voluntary service managed by the State or on behalf of the State, e.g. in the social field 
or in civil protection. 

Civilian service is an alternative to compulsory military service in some countries, but not voluntary. 

In this report, volunteering is mainly analysed through assessing national reports on the implementation 
of European common objectives agreed by Member States under the Open Method of Coordination plus 
data from the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP) and Eurobarometer surveys.  

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Available  statistics  concerning  the  rate  of  participation  of  young  people  in  volunteering  activities  are 
insufficient.  Most  national  governments  do  not  systematically  collect  relevant  data  on  volunteering  for 
young people, and there is much room for improvement. 

According  to  the  2007  Commission  analysis  of  national  reports  under  the  Youth  open  method  of 
coordination22,  nine  countries  had  either  a  youth  volunteering  strategy  in  place  or  in  preparation 
(Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom). All 
countries that have a strategy, also have a volunteering law. Six countries had a voluntary service in place 
(Czech  Republic,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Lithuania,  and  Luxembourg).  In  13  countries,  specific 
measures  had  been  taken  to  enhance  the  volunteering  activities  of  young  people  with  fewer  activities 
(Austria,  Belgium,  Czech  Republic,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  Portugal, 
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom). France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the UK have made 
volunteering a political priority of their governments (at the time of the 2007 national reports). Cyprus, 
Greece and Italy have strengthened cooperation with schools; Spain has traditionally a good cooperation 
with  Universities  on  volunteering.  Finland  has  sought  to  develop  a  tripartite  dialogue  model  for 
volunteering  including  decision  makers,  youth  workers  and  researchers.  Austria  (Volunteer's  Pass), 
Belgium,  Finland  (Finland),  France  (Passport  of  Commitment),  Germany,  Poland  and  Slovakia  are 
among the countries which have developed the explicit recognition of individual skills and competence 
acquired through volunteering at national and European (Youthpass) level. 

At the the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP) information about the following 16 
EU Member States is currently available (reporting 2007): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, 
Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, 
Sweden, United Kingdom. 

3.2.1.  Older generations are more active in voluntary activities  

Available  data  suggest  that  young  people  participate  less  in  voluntary  activities  than  that  of  other  age 
groups, even when corrected for national differences. Types of volunteering include informal and unpaid 
assistance, caring for other adults and other social activities in clubs, as well as political or community 
organisations. There are huge differences across countries, as far as voluntary activities go. Older people 
are  most  likely  to  be  involved  in  these  activities  in  the  Netherlands,  Sweden  and  Denmark,  whereas 
participation levels are lowest in the Southern and Central European countries taking part in the SHARE 
Survey (Survey on Health and Retirement in Europe, which does not cover all Member States23).  

A Eurobarometer survey carried out in September 2008 revealed that almost three quarters of Europeans 
would consider participating in community work or volunteering after retirement. 

3.2.2.  Youth and voluntary activities: more advocacy than practise 

In a Eurobarometer on youth in January 2007, only 2 % of people aged between 15 and 30 report that 
they regularly participate in voluntary or community work during their leisure time. In the same survey, 
however,  16 %  declare  to  be  engaged  (regularly  or  occasionally)  in  voluntary  activities  and  74 %  of 
respondents think that "more available programmes encouraging voluntary work" will help young people 
become more active citizens in society. 

22 
23 

Commission Staff Working Document SEC(2007) 1084 
The  SHARE  Survey  has  been  funded  through  successive  EU  Research  Framework  Programmes.  SHARE  is  a 
multidisciplinary  and  cross-national  panel  database  of  micro-data  on  health,  socio-economic  status  and  social  and 
family networks of more than 30,000 individuals aged 50 or over. Eleven countries have contributed data to the 2004 
SHARE  baseline  study.  More  countries  are  joining  in  later  surveys,  thus  establishing  a  longitudinal  dataset  and 
research infrastructure. Info: http://www.share-project.org/.  

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In the country questionnaires that Member States were asked to submit on volunteering under EKCYP24, 
respondents were asked to "tick off" which of a total of 17 different kinds of volunteering activities exist 
in  their  countries  (such  as  Community  peacekeeping,  social  assistance,  environment,  education, 
humanitarian  aid,  etc.).  All  categories  of  volunteering  have  been  selected  for  Germany  and  United 
Kingdom, as well as for the Flemish Community of Belgium. Sweden also has most types of voluntary 
activity. Portugal has 11 out of the 17 categories of volunteering with the largest number of young people 
participating  in  the  environmental  and  sports  categories,  while  in  Italy,  data  indicate  that  six  types  of 
volunteering opportunities are present, with the most popular being welfare, followed by education and 
culture.  

Voluntary  activities  of  young  people  have  gained  importance  at  national  and  European  level  in  recent 
years. There is a large variety of voluntary activities throughout EU, whether they are organised by civil 
society or by public authorities. 

Different realities of volunteering across Member States – Some examples 

The  United  Kingdom  launched  a  national  youth  volunteering  programme  called 
'vinvolved', 
accompanied by millions worth of grants to support a major expansion in volunteering for young people 
between  the  ages  of  16  and  25.  This  completes  the  funding  allocated  to  youth  volunteering  in  this 
country.  These  support  local,  regional  and  national  volunteering  organisations  in  their  respective 
territories. In addition, a number of organisations support youth volunteering specifically and a range of 
organisations  offer  full-time  volunteering  opportunities.  There  is  also  a  network  of  more  than  400 
volunteer centres throughout the UK.  

In this country, there is a wide range of ways to accredit young people’s learning and achievements in 
non-formal settings, which can include volunteering. The Awards Network has mapped these awards and 
their components against a nine level National Qualification Framework. 

In Germany, the national Child and Youth Plan provides a framework to support the development of an 
effective infrastructure for voluntary activities. This appears to be well funded and supports organisations 
in the field of child and youth services and welfare at the federal level. Pilot programmes and specific 
projects are also funded. Local and regional levels also have specific child and youth plans, under which 
youth volunteering activity is funded; primarily through 680 local youth welfare offices. 

The  two  main  civic  service  programmes  that  receive  support  through  a  mixture  of  host  organisation, 
state, federal and third party funds are: the Voluntary Social Year and the Voluntary Ecological Year In 
2008 a new civic service focusing on developing countries has been launched, with funding to provide 
places for about 10.000 volunteers per year. A range of non-public organisations also support voluntary 
activity (e.g. churches, lottery and private foundations).  

The range of actors in Germany includes government and non-governmental bodies and, also in terms of 
networks,  there  is  a  broad  range:  e.g.  the  Association  of  Voluntary  Social  Welfare  Services,  the 
Association of Volunteering Agencies and the Federal Network for Civil Engagement. There are also a 
number  of  information  centres  providing  information  on  specific  civil  services,  in  the  fields  of  the 
environment, sports and culture.  

There  are  numerous  forms  of  recognition  and  accreditation  for  young  people,  including  the  “In-Card”, 
which is a certificate for volunteers who are active in a voluntary organisation. They must have attended 
a  special  qualification  training  and  be  at  least  16,  and  the  card  gives  them  discounts  on  access  to 
community  services  or  cultural  events.  Over  3.000  cards  are  issued  each  month.  Some  Federal  States 

24 

European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy 

EN 

53 

   EN 

                                                 
have  their  own  method  of  certifying  qualifications,  and  for  international  volunteers  there  is  an 
International Certificate. 

In  Portugal,  some  238  youth  associations  are  reported  as  active  in  the  field  of  volunteering,  together 
with  207  NGOs,  69  youth  groups,  37  student  associations,  one  university,  719  associations  and  other 
private  entities,  and  128  other  bodies.  Some  324  public  service  organisations  at  national  and  regional 
level are reported to be active in volunteering activity. This suggests a wide range of actors and activity, 
but may also indicate a degree of fragmentation. Certificates can be gained by volunteers for their work.  

In  Italy,  some  2.800  organisations  are  reported  as  active  in  voluntary  activities.  All  those  operating 
within  the  National  Civic  Service  are  registered  on  a  database.  A  sub-group  of  12  of  these,  which 
constitutes the Conferenza  Nazionale degli  Enti per il Servizio Civile, is described as  playing the most 
important role in the youth and voluntary fields. This includes CARITAS and WWF. Certificates can be 
gained by volunteers for their work.  

Sweden also has a long tradition and history of volunteering, in particular in terms of leisure and sports 
associations. Participation rates for the population as a whole are relatively high – 50 % take part in some 
form  of  voluntary  work.  Amongst  young  people  (between  the  ages  16  and  29),  participation  rates  are 
39 %  for  men  and  43 %  for  women.  The  government  supports  activity  primarily  through  financial 
support  to  NGOs.  In  addition,  youth  organisations  can  apply  for  financial  support  from  municipalities. 
There  are  about  250  organisations  which  send  or  receive  volunteers  within  approximately  25 
programmes. Although the development of programmes and activities generally takes place within youth 
NGOs,  the  Government  has  taken  the  initiative  in  several  specific  areas,  e.g.  in  the  development  of 
methods  for  the  recognition  of  non-formal  learning.  The  Government  is  working  on  methods  for 
recognising  non-formal  and  informal  learning  in  a  number  of  areas  and  have  developed  a  special 
authority, the Swedish National Commission on Validation, to look into this issue. 

3.2.3.  Obstacles 

Certain groups of young people tend to participate in volunteering much more than others. There are a 
number of barriers to participation; financial conditions, geographical location, health status and so on. 
These  barriers  are  particularly  important  for  people  with  fewer  opportunities.  Unfortunately,  there  is 
insufficient data to conduct a deeper analysis of these differences in volunteering. 

The national reports from Member States also indicate that competing demands and increasing pressure 
on how young people  should spend their  time,  in particular from the  systems of  formal education, can 
also discourage young people from becoming involved in volunteering. In some countries, a lack of clear 
legal  and  financial  status  for  volunteer  organisations  and  projects  also  constitutes  serious  obstacles. 
Others barriers include negative peer pressure and a lack of access to appropriate information. Legal and 
insurance  issues  also  have  an  impact,  alongside  more  practical  issues  such  as  lack  of  transport  and 
childcare. 

3.2.4. 

Initiating voluntary projects at the European level  

Apart  from  the  common  objective  on  volunteering,  which  was  included  in  the  Open  Method  of 
Coordination  in  2002,  the  European  Union  has  since  1996  offered  concrete  support  to  voluntary 
activities.  The  European  Voluntary  Service  (EVS)  is  an  integrated  part  of  the  Youth  in  Action 
Programme  (2007-2013)  and  receives  a  substantial  share  of  the  programme  budget  (at  least  23  % 
according  to  the  decision  which  established  the  programme).  In  2007,  almost  4.300  young  people 
participated  in  some  2.100  individual  or  group  EVS  projects.  62 %  of  former  volunteers  under  the 
European  Voluntary  Service  consider  that  this  experience  has  changed  for  the  better  their  career 
possibilities. 

EN 

54 

   EN 

The  Council  of  Ministers  adopted  in  November  2008  a  recommendation  on  the  promotion  of 
volunteering of young people across Europe25. 

KEY FIGURES RELATING TO ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP OF YOUNG PEOPLE 

•  Over 2300 national and regional information points are reported in 20 Member States 

•  22 % of young people in the EU declare that they are members of an organisation 

•  49 % of young people declare that they are members of a sport club 

•  4 % of young people declare having participated in activities of political parties or trade unions 

•  Less  than  40 %  of  young  people  aged  between  16  and  29  have  trust  in  (or  are  neutral  towards) 

politicians and political parties 

•  63 % of the population younger than 30 trust the European Parliament  

•  16 % of people aged 15-30 are occasional or regular volunteers 

•  Three  out  of  four  young  people  consider  volunteering  activities  as  an  incentive  for  their  greater 

participation in society. 

25 

Council  Recommendation  of  20  November  2008  on  the  mobility  of  young  volunteers  across  the  European  Union 
(2008/C 319/03) 

EN 

55 

   EN 

                                                 
4. 

LIFESTYLES 

4.1. 

Family life 

4.1.1.  General trends 

Many countries are concerned about their low birth rates while the social reality of family life has 
changed profoundly over recent decades. 

First marriage rates, by sex and age class, expressed per 1000 persons (2003) 

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

SE

IS

NO

CH

Women

Men

15-24

25-29

30+

15-24

25-29

30+

173

273

210

114

165

261

351

157

209

328

150

340

270

439

130

286

86

100

124

177

186

162

188

272

203

136

160

184

189

286

226

185

233

176

183

173

178

216

208

242

101

56

52

307

172

51

52

153

70

149

179

51

116

71

107

57

248

275

199

212

83

120

95

49

75

173

227

66

95

154

65

204

159

212

55

151

28

48

57

90

199

200

200

213

166

173

218

168

203

331

187

263

256

278

161

217

121

162

168

200

152

135

127

392

248

92

103

198

144

245

265

112

166

147

174

125

290

347

290

299

Note : EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, CY, AT, FI, UK data not available  

Source: Eurostat, Demographic statistics 

People are less likely to enter into a first marriage, and, in 2003, did so more than two years later than in 
1990: the average age at first marriage rose from 24.8 years to 27.4 years for women and from 27.5 to 
29.8 years for men. The average age to enter into a first marriage is 27,3years. 

Furthermore,  a  significant  number  of  marriages  are  now  between  partners  of  different  nationalities: 
between 12 % and 15 % in Germany and France, around 20 % in Belgium and Austria and between 25 % 
and 30 % in Estonia, Luxembourg and Cyprus. 

Divorce  rates  have  increased  since  the  1970s,  more  than  doubling  in  some  countries,  unmarried 
cohabitation has become commonplace, and a large proportion of children are born outside marriage: in 
most Member States between 25 % and 50 % of all children.  

In  spite  of  this  'de-institutionalisation'  of  family  life,  most  children  still  live  in  couple  households, 
married or cohabiting. Single-parent households, most of them headed by mothers, accounted for 14 % of 
households with children. 

EN 

56 

   EN 

 
 
4.1.2.  Leaving the parental home 

One  event  that  contributes  to  lead  young  people  toward  independence  is  when  they  leave  the  parental 
home. Transition from parental to own household has a strong relation to fertility rates: as a rule, when 
young people leave home later they have fewer children and later in life. 

In  2005,  66  %  of  young  women  and  78  %  of  men  aged  18–24  in  the  EU  were  still  living  with  their 
parents  (Eurostat).  According  to  the  data  from  the  EU  Labour  Force  Survey  (2007),  the  mean  age  at 
which young people leave parental home differ among Member States. 

Mean age of young people leaving home, by gender (2007) 

32

31

30

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

BE BG CZ DE EE EL ES FR IT CY LV LT LU HU MT NL A T PL PT RO SI SK FI UK

Males

Females

Note: DK, IE, SE data not available 

Source: Eurostat, Labour Force Survey 

The  mean  age  is  25  years.  For  men,  it  varies  from  23  in  Finland  to  31.5  in  Bulgaria,  Slovenia  and 
Slovakia. Women leave on average earlier, varying from 22 in Finland to nearly 30 in Slovakia. Highest 
gaps by gender are registered in Bulgaria and Romania, respectively 3.8 and 3.2 years, while the majority 
of Member States register gaps between one and two years. On average, transition from parental home 
takes  place  later  in  Southern  and  Central  Europe  than  in  other  EU  countries  (often  after  age  26  for 
women and 28 for men). 

These results are confirmed when considering  the median age - i.e. age at which half of young people 
have  left  their  home:  the  value  varies  from  21  years  of  age  in  Finland  to  age  31  in  Slovakia.  Women 
leave in average earlier, varying from 20 to just over 28, again in Finland and in Slovakia.  

EN 

57 

   EN 

 
Median age of young people leaving home by gender (2007) 

32

31

30

29

28

27

26

25

24

23

22

21

20

19

18

BE BG CZ DE EE EL ES FR IT CY LV LT LU HU MT NL A T PL PT RO SI SK FI UK

Males

Females

Note: DK, IE, SE data not available 

Source: Eurostat, Labour Force Survey 

4.1.3.  Reasons for staying at home longer than before 

A  Eurobarometer  survey  conducted  in  2007  on  a  sample  of  EU  citizens  aged  15-30  allow  to  better 
understand reasons of delaying the leaving of the parental home 

According to this survey, a majority of young Europeans  give  financial  reasons when asked what they 
believe are the reasons for this delay: 44 % believe that young adults cannot afford to move out, and 28 
%  think  that  there  is  a  lack  of  affordable  housing.  Furthermore,  16  %  of  respondents  tend  to  blame 
selfishness, agreeing with the statement that young people today want all the comfort of living at home 
without having to bear the responsibilities. Respondents in the 12 new Member States are more likely to 
mention the first two reasons when explaining why young adults remain at their parents’ homes. In the 
EU15, however, respondents agree more often with the statement that they want all the comfort without 
having to bear all the responsibilities. 

An analysis of the answers at the national level shows that in 16 out of 27 countries, a lack of financial 
resources is given as the primary explanation as to why young adults continue to live with their parents. 
Young  Greeks,  Hungarians  and  Portuguese  tend  to  put  forward  this  assumption  more  frequently  than 
others (61 %, 64 % and 62 %, respectively).  

In 10 other Member States, the shortage of affordable housing is selected as the most significant reason. 
This is particularly notable in Lithuania, where more than one in two young adults (54 %) supports this 
statement, and in Spain (48 %). 

4.1.4.  Household composition 

According to an EU-SILC survey (EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions) from 2005 24,5 % of 
young  people  (15-29)  in  EU  live  in  the  same  household  as  their  partner.  For  women,  three  out  of  ten 
young women (15-29) and near two in ten young men live in the same household as their partner.  

EN 

58 

   EN 

 
In two Member States, the Netherlands and Sweden, more than 40 % of women live with their partners, 
while  the  maximum  concerning  men  is  reached  in  Sweden  with  30  %.  In  these  cases  and  generally 
everywhere in Northern Europe most of unions before the age of 30 are not established on a legal basis. 
Meanwhile, in Greece, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, Slovakia, Malta and Lithuania this share does not exceed 5 
% of women, representing less than 20 % of those living in couple in the same household. The situation 
among  young  men  is  similar,  showing  a  slightly  higher  frequency  of  persons  not  living  as  a  couple 
(parental house, alone, collective accommodations, etc) or cohabiting. 

In 2005, on average, the head of the household in nearly 10 % of families in the European Union was 
younger  than  30  years  old.  In  Spain  and  Italy,  however,  this  share  was  less  than  one  third  of  the  EU 
average.  There  is  a  declining  trend  in  recent  years,  where  the  figure  dropped  by  1.6  percentage  points 
within six years (9.6 in 1999 versus 8 % in 2005).  

In terms of size of the household, the EU value in 2005 is not far from 1.5 adult equivalents26. The size of 
the household is significantly larger than the EU average in Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Bulgaria.  

Young women living in consensual union, with or without legal basis, % of 15-29 year olds in 2005 

On a legal bas is

Without legal bas is

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

12

12

4

30

4

17

14

5

24

15

13

4

1

27

23

19

16

21

21

17

27

24

19

28

28

16

13

14

12

6

6

20

3

20

7

8

25%

11

25

21

2

20%

15%

23

24

10%

19

5%

0%

6

13

6

22

14

14

12

8

7

EU25

BE

CZ

DK

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

Note : BG, DE, IE; LV, RO data not available 

Source: Eurostat, EU-SILC 

26 

The  household  average  size  is  expressed  as  “adult  equivalent”  computed  using  the  modified  OECD  equivalence 
scale. This scale gives a weight of 1.0 to the first adult, 0.5 to the second and each subsequent person aged 14 and 
over, and 0.3 to each child aged less than 14 in the household. 

EN 

59 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Young men living in consensual union, with or without legal basis, % of 15-29 year olds in 2005 

On a legal bas is

Without legal bas is

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

9

8

15%

8

20

12

10

4

16

17

3

9

3

10%

11

5%

0%

14

14

10

6

4

6

4

1

8

4

8

2

7

8

15

12

13

11

0

11

16

14

9

23

16

17

19

21

10

7

7

6

4

3

13

4

12

4

4

EU25

BE

CZ

DK

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

4.1.5.  Marital status of young people 

It  clearly  appears  that  young  people's  behaviour  towards  marriage  differ  considerably  among  Member 
States  both  with  regard  to  intensity  and  age.  As  a  general  trend,  more  young  people  marry  in  Central 
Europe  while  marriages  in  Scandinavia  happen  without  hurry.  In  all  EU  Member  States,  more  young 
women than men are married. The reason for this is that women marry approximately 2-3 years sooner 
than  men.  In  all  Member  States  the  majority  of  marriages  occur  when  the  woman  is  younger  than  30, 
except for in Sweden (44 %) and Denmark (49 %). In Lithuania and Poland almost 90 out of 100 brides 
are younger than 30. 

In  terms  of  wedding  frequency  per  country  for  the  age  cohort  25-29,  the  proportion  of  young  married 
women in Romania is three times higher than for Sweden (60 % and 20 % respectively). Among men, 
the extreme values at the same age can be found in Lithuania and Sweden (42 % and 11 %). For both 
sexes the proportion of young married is higher in Central Europe and the Baltic States. 

Among young people aged 25-29, the divorce rate is marginal. Only in a few countries does the divorce 
rate reach as high as 5 %. 

EN 

60 

   EN 

 
Proportion of young population by marital status, sex and age class (2006) - Eurostat 

%

BE

CZ

DE

LV

LT

HU

NL

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

IS

LI

CH

F

20-24
11.7

25-29
36.3

0.4

87.9

10.8

0.7

88.5

10.1

0.5

89.4

15.5
0.7
83.7
22.8
1.6
75.5
10.7

0.6

88.6

9.2
0.3
90.4
28.7
1.1
70.1
5.4
0.1
94.5
17.5
0.7
81.5
8.7

0.5

90.8

6.7
0.5
92.8
4.2

0.0

95.8

12.4
0.0

87.6
14.0
0.3
85.7

2.9

60.8

43.6

5.1

51.2

31.5

3.0

65.4

39.7
4.8
55.2
54.4
7.9
37.2
38.6

4.5

56.8

30.2
1.9
67.9
59.9
3.8
36.0
25.2
1.1
73.6
49.7
3.9
46.0
31.4

2.9

65.7

20.2
2.3
77.5
22.0

2.0

75.9

37.5
2.5

60.0
37.1
1.7
61.1

Total

16.7

1.1

82.1

20.5

2.2

77.2

14.1

1.2

84.6

17.9
1.7
80.2
25.0
2.9
71.9
18.5

1.9

79.5

13.3
0.7
85.9
31.3
1.7
66.8
11.1
0.5
88.4
23.9
1.6
74.3
13.6

1.1

85.2

8.9
0.9
90.2
8.8

0.7

90.5

17.1
0.9

82.0
17.9
0.7
81.3

15-19
0.1

0.0

99.9

0.1

0.0

99.9

0.1

0.0

99.9

0.2
0.0
99.8
0.5
0.0
99.5
0.0

0.0

100.0

0.0
0.0
100.0
0.2
0.0
99.8
0.0
0.0
100.0
0.2
0.0
99.8
0.1

0.0

99.9

0.0
0.0
100.0
0.0

0.0

100.0

0.0
0.0

100.0
0.1
0.0
99.9

M

20-24
4.0

25-29
22.7

0.1

95.9

3.5

0.2

96.3

3.6

0.1

96.3

7.7
0.2
92.0
11.7
0.5
87.8
3.5

0.2

96.3

2.9
0.1
97.0
7.8
0.2
92.0
1.6
0.0
98.4
7.5
0.3
92.1
4.1

0.2

95.7

2.3
0.1
97.6
1.4

0.0

98.6

5.6
0.0

94.4
5.8
0.1
94.1

1.3

76.0

26.0

2.7

71.3

17.8

1.5

80.7

29.0
2.9
68.0
41.8
4.7
53.4
23.1

2.1

74.8

16.8
0.7
82.5
40.1
1.6
58.3
12.4
0.4
87.2
32.8
2.0
65.1
20.4

1.5

78.1

11.2
1.1
87.7
12.4

0.9

86.7

21.7
1.0

77.4
23.3
0.8
76.0

15-19
0.8

0.0

99.2

0.4

0.0

99.6

0.6

0.0

99.4

1.1
0.0
98.9
2.4
0.0
97.6
0.8

0.0

99.2

0.0
0.0
100.0
3.8
0.1
96.2
0.0
0.0
100.0
1.0
0.0
99.0
0.5

0.0

99.5

0.4
0.0
99.6
0.0

0.0

100.0

0.0
0.0

100.0
1.0
0.0
99.0

F+M

Total

Total

9.1

0.5

90.4

11.2

1.1

87.6

7.1

0.6

92.3

11.6
1.0
87.4
16.6
1.6
81.8
10.0

0.9

89.1

6.5
0.3
93.2
16.6
0.6
82.7
5.1
0.2
94.7
14.3
0.8
84.9
8.3

0.6

91.2

4.4
0.4
95.2
4.6

0.3

95.1

9.3
0.3

90.4
9.9
0.3
89.8

12.9

0.8

86.3

15.8

1.7

82.5

10.6

0.9

88.5

14.7
1.3
83.9
20.7
2.2
76.9
14.2

1.4

84.4

9.9
0.5
89.6
23.8
1.1
74.9
8.0
0.3
91.7
19.0
1.2
79.7
10.9

0.8

88.2

6.6
0.7
92.8
6.6

0.5

92.9

13.1
0.6

86.3
13.9
0.5
85.6

Married

Divorced

Singles

Married

Divorced

Singles

Married

Divorced

Singles

Married
Divorced
Singles
Married
Divorced
Singles
Married

Divorced

Singles

Married
Divorced
Singles
Married
Divorced
Singles
Married
Divorced
Singles
Married
Divorced
Singles
Married

Divorced

Singles

Married
Divorced
Singles
Married

Divorced

Singles

Married

Divorced

Singles
Married
Divorced
Singles

EN 

61 

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4.1.6.  Becoming a parent 

Another  frequent  key  event  in  a  young  person's  life  in  the  transitional  phase  towards  adulthood  is  the 
experience of becoming parent. This is a landmark event in the life of millions of young persons in the 
EU. Again there are large differences between countries.  

Total fertility rate 1980- 2006 

1980

1990

2000

2006

2006

:

:

2.10

1.55

:

2.02

3.23

:

2.20

:

1.68

:

:

:

1.46

1.92

1.99

1.60

1.65

2.28

2.25

2.40

2.11

2.31

:

1.68

:

2.48

:

1.72

1.55

:

:

:

TFR

:

:

1.89

1.67

:

2.05

2.12

:

1.36

:

1.36

2.40

:

2.03

1.60

1.84

2.05

1.62

1.46

1.99

1.57

1.80

1.46

2.09

:

2.14

:

2.31

:

1.93

1.59

:

:

3.07

1.62

1.27

1.14

1.77

:

1.39

1.90

1.27

1.23

1.89

1.26

1.60

1.24

1.39

1.78

1.33

1.69

1.72

1.36

1.37

1.56

1.30

1.26

1.29

1.73

1.55

:

2.08

1.58

1.85

1.50

1.39

1.70

2.27

:

1.37

1.33

1.83

1.32

1.55

1.90

1.39

1.38

2.00

1.32

1.47

1.35

1.31

1.65

1.34

1.41

1.70

1.40

1.27

1.35

1.31

1.31

1.24

1.84

1.85

1.84

2.08

1.42

1.90

1.43

1.38

1.46

:

<20

:

0.21

0.05

0.03

0.05

0.11

0.08

0.06

0.06

0.06

0.03

0.03

0.11

0.10

0.05

0.10

0.08

0.03

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.17

0.02

0.10

0.05

0.03

0.13

0.07

0.02

0.05

0.02

0.07

0.10

:

20-24

25-29

:

0.40

0.23

0.22

0.22

0.35

0.24

0.22

0.16

0.32

0.16

0.22

0.35

0.32

0.27

0.24

0.23

0.19

0.26

0.29

0.22

0.35

0.19

0.28

0.29

0.24

0.36

0.40

0.20

0.30

0.19

0.30

0.40

:

:

0.42

0.49

0.63

0.42

0.51

0.39

0.42

0.32

0.68

0.36

0.53

0.42

0.47

0.50

0.44

0.48

0.54

0.46

0.46

0.39

0.41

0.50

0.42

0.58

0.57

0.50

0.64

0.28

0.64

0.42

0.48

0.53

:

30+

:

0.35

0.55

0.96

0.63

0.58

1.18

0.70

0.83

0.94

0.76

0.69

0.46

0.42

0.83

0.56

0.61

0.94

0.61

0.46

0.65

0.38

0.60

0.44

0.92

1.01

0.85

0.97

0.92

0.92

0.80

0.53

0.43

:

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

LI

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

Note : IT 2005 

Source: Eurostat, Demographic statistics 

The fertility trends over the last decades in Europe are well known, there has been a sharp decline in the 
total fertility rate far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman and an increase in the mean 
age of mothers at first births. Even an additional reduction of mortality risk among young people and an 
increase of immigration can no longer compensate for this effect. The main results have been structural 
changes in the proportion of young in the total population. There are different hypotheses for explaining 
this trend, the most frequent being delayed age of departure from parental home, increased birth control, 
postponed start of employment, unstable employment conditions and economic hardship. Some of these 
potential links will be examined in the following paragraphs. 

After this long period of decreasing fertility across Europe, recent figures (from 2000 to 2006) suggest 
that  the  average  number  of  children  per  woman  is  increasing  in  several  Member  States,  in  particular 
Sweden (+0.30), Czech Republic (+0.18), Estonia (+0.16) and Spain (+0.15).  

Despite the recent new trend, even the highest national fertility levels recorded in EU (France at 2.0 and 
Ireland at 1.9), are still under the full replacement level if one does not take into account migration flows. 

Looking at time series starting in 1980, one gets a better picture of the diversity in the fertility levels in 
Europe.  The  highest  levels  in  1980  were  observed  in  Ireland  (3.23  children  per  woman)  and  Romania 
(2.40). Current values for these countries have fallen by more than 40 % from 1980 to 2006. The lowest 

EN 

62 

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fertility  rates,  (below  1.4)  are  registered  mainly  in  Central  and  Southern  Europe,  with  the  lowest  rates 
registered in Slovakia (1.24) and Poland (1.27). 

Mean age of women at first child (1995, 2005) 

1995

2005

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

27.3

22.4

23.3

27.4

27.5

23.0

27.3

26.6

28.4

:

28.0

:

:

23.1

27.4

23.8

28.4

25.6

23.8

25.8

22.9

24.9

:

27.2

27.2

29.3

24.9

26.4

28.1

:

:

:

24.7

26.6

28.4

29.1

25.2

:

28.5

29.3

28.5

:

27.5

25.0

24.9

29.0

26.7

28.9

27.2

25.8

27.4

24.8

27.7

25.7

27.9

28.7

30.0

26.3

27.7

29.5

26.5

25.2

Note : UK 1996, 2006 

Source: Eurostat, Demographic statistics 

Looking  at  the  age  of  the  mother  at  the  first  childbirth  gives  further  evidence  of  delayed  parenthood. 
Without  exception,  this  age  has  increased  in  all  EU  Member  States  during  the  period  1995-2005.  The 
mean age of the mothers at the first childbirth in EU is around 27 years. 

Changes are bigger in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia, with an average postponement of birth 
of first child by about 3 years. In absolute terms, however, the mother's mean age at first birth is even 
more  delayed  in  the  United  Kingdom  (30  years  old)  together  with  Spain,  Germany  and  Luxembourg, 
where age of mothers at first birth is between 29 and 30. 

Italy and Spain have low fertility rates overall, but especially among young women. Ireland is the only 
country characterised by a fertility rate above Europe’s average particularly due to high fertility rates of 
women over 30.

EN 

63 

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4.1.7.  More babies born outside marriage 

Proportion of births outside marriage by country (1996, 2006) 

1996

2006

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

MK

IS

LI

NO

CH

19

28

17

46

17

48

25

3

12

:

8

1

33

14

15

23

3

17

28

10

19

21

32

14

35

54

36

7

8

61

10

48

7

39

51

33

46

30

58

33

5

28

50

19

6

43

30

29

36

22

37

37

19

32

29

47

27

41

55

44

11

13

66

16

53

15 

Note: BE: 2007 

Source: Eurostat, Demographic statistics 

Over  the  last  decade,  the  trend  in  the  EU  has  been  that  more  and  more  babies  are  born  outside  of 
marriage (37 % in 2006). Differences between Member States have grown stronger from 1996 to 2006. 
In some  Member  States, the number  of babies born outside of marriage has more  than doubled during 
this period. This is the case in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta and the Netherlands.  

In Estonia and Sweden, around 6 children of 10 are born outside marriage, while in Cyprus or Greece 
this proportion is close to one on twenty and less or equal to one on four in Italy, Poland and Malta. In 
the youngest age group registered (15-19 year olds), the number of births outside marriage exceeds 90 % 
of  newborns  in  Denmark,  Ireland  and  UK,  while  it  is  down  to  33  %  in  Greece  and  less  than  15  %  in 
Cyprus. Regarding this age group, it is important to keep in mind that few persons are married and few 
births are registered. For the age group 25-29, more than 50 % of children are born outside marriage in 
Sweden, Estonia and Denmark. On the opposite side of the spectrum are Greece and Cyprus, with less 
than 4 %. 

EN 

64 

   EN 

Births outside marriage by age group, % (decreasing order) -2005 

15-19

20-24

25-29

15-29

%

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

IS EE SE NO IE UK DK FR BG SI LV FI AT ES HU NL PT DE CZ LU RO LT SK MT PL IT

LI CH MK HR EL CY

Note : BE data not available 

Source: Eurostat, Demographic statistics 

Results of the KASS project: Kinship and Social Security27 

Patterns of Kinship and Family relations across Europe 

The  KASS  project  measured,  through  original  ethnographic  research,  the  extent  of  mutual  assistance 
between  relatives  of  various  generations,  and  the  factors  which  influence  it.  It  considered  the  role  of 
kinship ties in practical and social life in terms of three implicit contracts: 

(1) The contract between successive generations is a source of practical, emotional and financial support 
– both on a regular basis and as an insurance for times of crisis such as illness, unemployment, divorce 
and  bereavement.  Support  from  the  grand-parental  generation  for  their  own  children’s  parenting  can 
greatly assist the reconciliation of parenting and employment, and people in middle and later-middle age 
are an important source of care for the dependent elderly.  

(2) The contract between reproductive partners (and each other’s family of origin) includes the division 
of productive, child-rearing and domestic labour, as well as the ways in which the partners support each 
other’s social identities. 

(3) The contract with the community as a whole goes beyond the formal obligations and rights resulting 
from legal citizenship. It also includes the obligations and pleasures of participating in social and ritual 
life, in its own right or as a representative of one’s family.  

The research has identified two broad ways in which the three contracts are combined in contemporary 
Europe,  demonstrating  and  confirming  a  northwest-southeast  and  urban-rural  contrasts  in  kinship  patterns 
across  Europe.  While  most  of  the  nineteen  communities  studied  fall  somewhere  between  these  two 
patterns, they do so in a systematic way, since the different aspects of the models vary together: 

27 

The  KASS  project  was  funded  under  the  6th  Framework  Programme  of  the  European  Union  (Citizens  and 
Governance  Programme)  and  involved 19 research  partners  from  eight European  countries  (Sweden,  Italy,  France, 
Germany,  Austria,  Croatia,  Poland  and  Russia)  representing  different  family/welfare  regimes,  running  from  May 
2004 – April 2008.–www.eth.mpg.de/kass.  

EN 

65 

   EN 

 
                                                 
In one combination, typical of northern and western Europe, the contract between the individual and 
society  as  a  whole  is  direct,  the  conception  of  society  is  geographically  quite  wide,  and  family  life  is 
centred  on  the  reproductive  couple.  Co-residence  of  different  adult  generations  is  rare  and 
intergenerational ties are relatively down-played – though, nevertheless, substantial amounts of help flow 
from  parents  to  adult  children.  This  pattern  is  better  adapted  to  modern  capitalism,  in  which  most 
families do not own and transmit their own productive capital, and in which each person ideally enters 
the labour market in his or her own right, irrespective of family ties. 

In  the  other  combination,  typical  of  southern  and  eastern  Europe,  intergenerational  ties  are 
emphasised, and the link between reproductive partners is correspondingly down-played. This pattern is 
adapted to family-based production (most notably in agriculture) in which the moral debt of the younger 
generation for the inheritance of the family capital underpins the relatively high status of members of the 
older generation. Features of this model are highly distinct gender roles, a conception of social identity in 
which  the  individual  relates  to  the  community  at  large  as  a  member  of  an  extended  family,  and  a 
community  that  is  geographically  concentrated  enough  for  each  individual’s  family  background  to  be 
generally  known.  Intergenerational  co-residence  (or  close  residence)  is  common,  and  allows  for 
extensive flows of help in both directions.  

Throughout these regimes ties with kin are more reliable practically than ties with friends and neighbours. 
Old people usually have a rather low position in the welfare priorities of families themselves, because they 
generally favour provision for the young. State support (in particular pensions) is therefore vital. Moreover, 
state support for the elderly enables the latter to be net givers to their descendants in the family. 

Because old people are likely to pass some of the resulting income to younger family members, there will be 
additional knock-on benefits to younger family members, which will themselves entail reciprocal help to the 
old  people.  The  overall  effect  is  thus  likely  to  include  some  strengthening  of  family  relationships  (i.e.  a 
‘crowding in’ effect). 

KEY FIGURES RELATING TO LIFESTYLES OF YOUNG PEOPLE 

•  Mean age to enter into a first marriage: 27,3years 

•  Mean age to leave parental home: 25 years 

•  24,5 % of young people (15-29) live in the same household as their partner 

•  Mean age of mothers at the first childbirth: around 27 years  

•  37 % babies born outside marriage 

4.2. 

Youth and Health 

Much  of  the  data  serving  as  background  information  for  young  people  and  health  relates  to  the  age 
groups  15  –  24  and  25  –  34.  Available  data  on  youth  and  health  are  mostly  linked  to  international 
programmes and policies against diseases, unhealthy lifestyles or for reducing mortality rates - particular 
at the European level. 

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66 

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USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

The  crude  death  rate  describes  mortality  in  relation  to  the  total  population.  Expressed  in  per  100,000 
inhabitants, it is calculated as the number of deaths recorded in the population for a given period divided 
by  population  in  the  same  period  and  then  multiplied  by  100,000.  The  population  structure  strongly 
influences this indicator for broad age classes. In a relatively ‘old' population, there will be more deaths 
than in a ‘young' one because mortality is higher in higher age groups. 

A transport accident is any accident involving a device designed primarily for, or being used at the time 
primarily for, conveying persons or goods from one place to another. 

A  traffic  accident  is  any  vehicle  accident  occurring  on  the  public  highway  [i.e.  originating  on, 
terminating on, or involving a vehicle partially on the highway]. A vehicle accident is assumed to have 
occurred  on  the  public  highway  unless  another  place  is  specified,  except  in  the  case  of  accidents 
involving only off-road motor vehicles, which are classified as non-traffic accidents unless the contrary is 
stated. 

Intentional self-harm implies purposely self-inflicted poisoning or injury and suicide (attempted). It also 
includes  intentional  self-poisoning  by  drugs  and  alcohol,  intentional  self-poisoning  by  and  exposure  to 
organic  solvents  and  halogenated  hydrocarbons  and  their  vapours,  intentional  self-poisoning  by  and 
exposure to other gases and vapours, intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to pesticides, intentional 
self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substances, by hanging, 
strangulation and suffocation, by drowning and submersion, intentional self-harm by handgun discharge, 
intentional  self-harm  by  rifle,  shotgun  and  larger  firearm  discharge,  by  other  and  unspecified  firearm 
discharge, by explosive material, by smoke, fire and flames, by steam, hot vapours and hot objects, harm 
by  sharp  object,  by  blunt  object,  by  jumping  from  a  high  place,  by  jumping  or  lying  before  moving 
object, by crashing of motor vehicle, by other specified means and by unspecified means. 

Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorder (such as 
depression,  personality  disorder,  alcohol  dependence,  or  schizophrenia),  and  some  physical  illnesses, 
such as neurological disorders, cancer, and HIV infection. There are effective strategies and interventions 
for the prevention of suicide. 

Drug dependence as a cause of death comprises the following items: mental and behavioural disorders 
due  to  use  of  opioids,  cannabinoids,  sedatives,  hypnotics,  cocaine,  hallucinogens,  volatile  solvents, 
multiple drug use and other psychoactive substances or stimulants, including caffeine. This category also 
includes  situations  when  two  or  more  psychoactive  substances  are  known  to  be  involved,  but  it  is 
impossible to assess which substance is contributing most to the disorders. It is also used when the exact 
identity of some or even all the psychoactive substances being used is uncertain or unknown, since many 
multiple drug users themselves often do not know the details of what they are taking. 

Source: WHO Classification of death causes 

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67 

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4.2.1.  Young people expect to live longer 

Economic development and the improvement of health systems across Europe have led to a continuous 
increase in life expectancy at birth. As a result, life expectancy in the EU is higher that in most countries 
in  the  world:  Female  (80.7  years)  usually  lives  longer  than  men  (74  years)  in  the  European  Union 
(Source: Eurostat -2006). 

With an average life expectancy of 81,1 and 81 years, Spain and Sweden are the countries where one can 
expect  to  live  longest  in  the  EU-27,  followed  by  France(80,9),  Cyprus  (80,6),  Austria  (80,1)  and 
Nederland (80). In some of the new Member States the life expectancy rate is significantly lower than the 
average, with Latvia and Lithuania with the shortest life expectancy at 71 years. Women generally live 
longer than men in the European Union, with an average life expectancy of 80.7 years, as compared to 74 
years for men.  

4.2.2.  Young Europeans perceive themselves as healthy 

Many physical and physiological changes occur during adolescence. These changes have an impact on 
the body and on how young people perceive themselves. The relationship between body image and self-
esteem is well established; It is usually stronger in girls. Gender differences are also apparent in the ways 
in which young men and women assess their bodies.  

Europeans  tend  to  self  perceive  their  own  health  more  negatively  with  age  except  in  Ireland,  the 
Netherlands and UK where more people say there feel in “very good” health when they are aged 25-34 
than  those  aged  15-24.  On  the  average,  people  aged  25-34  defined  themselves  as  in  “good”  or  “fair” 
health. Most young people also report a high level of mental well-being.  

Differences across countries are difficult to analyse since the perception of one’s health is closely linked 
to  socio-cultural  factors.  In  2006,  close  to  90  %  of  young  Greeks  aged  between  15  and  24  considered 
themselves  to  be  in  “very  good  health”  while  when  the  same  question  is  asked  to  young  people  in 
Portugal and Latvia, the percentage remains below 10 %. Cyprus and Slovakia had the highest scores of 
respondents replying that they were in “very bad health”, with 2 %.  

Nevertheless, some two million young people in the European Region of the World Health Organization 
(WHO)  suffer  from  mental  disorders  ranging  from  depression,  conduct  disorders,  anxiety  disorders  or 
eating  disorders  to  schizophrenia.  One  fifth  of  children  and  adolescents  suffer  from  developmental, 
emotional or behavioural problems, and one in eight have a mental disorder28. 

4.2.3.  Young people and their weight 

Excessive weight has a negative impact on a person's health – both in the short term as well as in the long 
term. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified obesity as a major public health concern and 
a “global epidemic” due to its high and increasing prevalence and challenge to long-term health. There is 
also  a  rising  concern  for  young  people’s  underweight,  often  due  to  dieting  and  other  weight  control 
methods. Often, weight problems are a symptom of negative physical and psychological self-images of 
young people. 

There  seem  to  be  in  particular  two  factors  that  have  had  an  impact  on  young  people's  increasing  body 
weight. First, eating habits have changed. Causes of changing eating habits among young people can be 
of  a  social,  cultural  and  family-connected  nature,  but  it  may  also  be  that  young  people  are  more 
influenced by their peers, new popular lifestyles and/or an ever expanding number of new products. More 

28 

Consensus Paper "Mental Health in Youth and Education" (2008) 

EN 

68 

   EN 

                                                 
meals,  often  unhealthy  take-away  dishes  or  fast  foods,  are  being  consumed  outside  the  home  or  the 
school than ever before. Young people are influenced by a still growing and often aggressive advertising 
market. 

Secondly, young people's increasing body weight is also caused by a growing inactivity among youth. A 
culture  of  inactivity  among  groups  of  young  people  developed  in  the  last  century  as  a  result  of  the 
development and availability of new technology: the massive expansion and availability of private cars 
has reduced the physical activity levels among youth. The same goes for television sets and the number 
of TV-channels in an average private home as well as the personal computer and electronic games of all 
kinds. In addition, the number of hours that an average young person spends doing school homework has 
increased, which further limits the time available to active leisure-time pursuits.  

In almost two thirds of EU Member States, the overweight population counts for more than one third of 
the population aged 25-34. Countries with the highest scores are Germany (42.7 %), Malta (47.8 %) and 
the United Kingdom (53.1 %)29.  

A large number of young people aged 15-24 are also concerned: around 17 % of them are in a situation 
of overweight or obesity. In Malta, 33.9 % of young people are reported to be overweight or obese, while 
in the UK it is 31 %, in Germany 26.5 % and in Ireland 25.8 %. The lowest levels of overweight young 
people aged 15-24 are registered in Latvia (10 %), Slovakia (10.3 %) and France (10.6 %). The share of 
young people aged 24-34, who show overweight or obesity is double compared to the age 15-24 (34%). 

A gender analysis shows that men are more overweight than women: there are more than 50 % of men 
aged  25-34  who  are  overweight  or  obese  in  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Malta,  Austria,  Slovakia, 
Finland  and  the  United  Kingdom,  while  the  percentage  of  women  never  gets  above  50  %  of  the 
population.  

Around  9%  of  young  people  aged  15-24  are  in  a  situation  of  underweight.  The  share  of  people  being 
underweight is lower among 25-34 year-olds (less than 5 %). 

The highest level of underweight young people is in the United Kingdom (16.8 %), followed by France 
(15.9  %),  Austria  (14.5  %),  Slovakia  (13.9  %)  and  Latvia  (13.6  %).  The  percentage  of  women  in  the 
underweight  category  is  much  higher  for  young  women  than  for  young  men  except  in  Austria  (3.5  % 
more men) and in the UK (about equal numbers). 

Globally  speaking,  nearly  one  third  of  young  Europeans  aged  15-24  are  affected  by  weight  troubles 
overall, but the numbers differ greatly by country. 

4.2.4.  Majority of young people die due to external factors 

Causes of death are different according to the each  age  group.  A  majority  of  people  over  45  years  die 
because  of  cancer,  circulatory  or  respiratory  diseases,  whereas  young  people  fall  victim  to  external 
self-harm  and  assault.
factors, 

transport  accidents,  accidental 

intentional 

such  as 

falls, 

29 

Data from Germany and UK are based on measured height and weight, while in other countries the height and weight 
were self-reported; UK data cover only England. 

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Causes of death of young people: number of cases by main external factors,  
by sex and age group, 2006 

Women 

Men 

Causes of 
death 

Suicide and 
intentional 
harm 
Transport 
Accidents 
Accidental 
Poisoning 
AIDS (HIV 
disease) 
Homicide, 
assault 
Drug 
dependence, 
toxicomania 

EU-27 
number of 
cases 
(all ages) 
58527 

15-19 

20-24 

25-29 

15-19 

20-24 

25-29 

15-19 

20-24 

25-29 

1478 

2731 

3132 

326 

433 

544 

1152 

2298  

2588 

49688 

4285 

5821 

4654 

1003  

1016 

730 

3282  

4805 

3924 

11010 

5833 

5402 

2878 

188 

122 

184 

105 

621 

816 

74 

222 

378 

462 

318 

443 

71 

49 

53 

26 

112 

113 

117 

509 

703 

31 

87 

56 

81 

73 

43 

141 

116 

131 

291 

346 

57 

79 

262 

386 

Source: Eurostat-Health-Causes of death 

In  2006,  more  than  12  000  young  men  aged  15-29  died  as  a  result  of  transport  accidents  in  the  EU. 
Intentional self harm (and suicide) was the second most common cause of death for young people aged 
between 15 and 29. In 2006, more than 7 000 young people committed suicide in the EU, 82 % of whom 
were young men. 

Drug consumption and addiction were also a significant cause of death: in the EU, 1 625 young people 
aged 15-29 died because of accidental poisoning and 866 died because of drug dependence. 

Homicide and assault also accounted for a substantial share of fatalities (1 024 deaths), especially among 
young men aged between 20 and 29. 

4.2.4.1.  Death due to transport accidents 

Traffic crashes are a major external cause of death in young people and the single greatest killer of 15 to 
24 year olds in OECD countries. 21.1% of people killed in road accidents in 2005 in the 18 European 
countries were aged 16-24 and the majority of them were drivers (4 279 persons), whereas only 484 were 
pedestrians. Drivers 16-24 year old have risk factors 2 to 3 times higher than more experienced drivers. 
They  pose  a  greater  risk  to  themselves  and  to  others:  in  young  driver  crashes,  for  each  young  driver 
killed,  about  1.3  others  also  die  (e.g.  passengers  and  other  road  users).  Source:  CARE  Database  /  EC- 
Date of query: December 2007. 

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Proportion of young people in population and in traffic fatalities in the EU, 2006 

Source: CARE Database / EC 
Date of query: September 2008 
Source of population data: EUROSTAT 

In  2006,  more  than  12  000  young  men  aged  15-29  died  as  a  result  of  transport  accidents  in  the  EU. 
Amongst  young  people,  males  account  for  the  majority  of  the  overall  fatalities  (88,5  fatality  rate  in 
2005). 

In  2006,  Lithuania  and  Greece  recorded  the  highest transport  accident  death  rates  for  young  men  aged 
20-24, followed by Estonia and Slovenia. All these countries registered crude death rates well above the 
EU average. The countries with the lowest death rates were the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. 

The  number  of  fatalities  linked  to  transport  accidents  generally  tends  to  decrease  with  age,  except  in 
Cyprus and Hungary, where transport fatalities among men aged 25-29 were more frequent than among 
men aged 20-24.  

Transport accidents are often linked to other risky behaviours of young people such as drunkenness and 
drug abuse.  

4.2.4.2.  Death due to suicide 

At EU level, the crude death rate by suicide among the male population aged 25-29 stood at 15 per 100 
000 inhabitants. The Baltic States and Finland registered the highest male suicide and self-inflicted injury 
rates for people aged between 20 and 29. 

es among young people. Women tend to be less affected by suicide and intentional self harm, with crude 
death  rates  generally  lower  than  6  per  100  000  inhabitants,  but  the  incidence  of  non-fatal  self-harm, 
which is estimated to be 10-40 times more common than that of actual suicide, is common also among 
female adolescents. 

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4.2.4.3.  Death due to drugs 

Within the European Union, deaths related to drug dependence remained on average below 2 
per 100 000 inhabitants in 2006. The highest death rates were found in Austria, Ireland and 
the United Kingdom. In 2005-2006, drug-inflicted deaths accounted for 3.5 % of all deaths of 
Europeans  aged  15-39.  Opium-based  products  were  found  in  around  70  %  of  them  (2008 
EMCDDA annual report). 

4.2.4.4.  Death due to AIDS/HIV 

Number of deaths caused by AIDS, by age group -2005 

TOTAL 

Y15_19 

Y20_24 

Y25_29 

EU27 

5998 

139 

62 

212 

Source : Eurostat-Population 

Share of young people diagnosed with HIV, by age group, 2006 

%  of  HIV  cases  among  15-29  on 
the  total  of  HIV  case  (all  known 
ages) 

EU-27 : 27.7 

% of HIV cases broken down by age (15-19,20-24,25-29)  

15-19 

6.9 

20-24 

32.8 

25-29 

60.3 

Source : Eurostat-Population 

Acquired  Immune  Deficiency  Syndrome  (AIDS)  affects  all  generations.  Governments  have 
taken action in order to combat and avoid its spreading. In spite of education and information 
campaigns,  however,  Europe  still  sees  a  considerable  number  of  new  HIV  infections  every 
year. 

HIV/AIDS  is  still  considered  a  serious  health  concern  across  the  EU.  In  2006,  27.7  %  of 
newly-diagnosed HIV cases inside the Union concerned young people aged between 15 and 
29. Within this age group, young people 25-29 accounted for 60.3 % of new cases, while for 
the age group 20-24 and 15-19 the rates were 32.8 % and 6.9 %, respectively. This is however 
not the case in Bulgaria and Estonia, where the largest share was identified among 20-24 year 
olds. 

In the age group 15-29, some discrepancies were registered between country patterns and the 
EU average of 27.7. This age group comprised of more than 70 % of newly-diagnosed HIV 
cases in Estonia in 2006, while the numbers are 50 % in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Romania 
and Slovakia. The lowest shares of newly-diagnosed HIV cases were found in Denmark (20 
%) and France (22 %).  

The most common modes of HIV transmission include heterosexual sex, men who have sex 
with men (MSM) and injection drug users (IDU). In the EU, 54 % of newly diagnosed cases 
in 2006 within the age range 15-29 involved heterosexual relations, followed by MSM (35 %) 
and  IDU  (10  %).  However,  this  varies  from  one  country  to  another:  in  Germany,  Greece, 
Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia, MSM was the most common mode of transmission, while in 
Bulgaria,  Lithuania,  Latvia,  Poland  and  Portugal  IDU  accounted  for  the  majority  of 

EN 

72 

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transmission cases. Other modes of transmission, such as blood transfusions, accounted for 4 
% of newly diagnosed cases in Belgium and 6 % of cases in Romania. 

The  European  Centre  for  the  Epidemiological  Monitoring  of  AIDS–EuroHIV 
(HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Europe) coordinates the surveillance of HIV/AIDS in the WHO 
European  Region  (5  countries).  Its  mission  is  to  understand,  improve  and  share  European 
HIV/AIDS surveillance data in order to better inform disease prevention, control and care. Its 
objectives include making international comparisons, assessing trends, characterising affected 
populations and predicting disease burden and evaluating surveillance methods. 

4.2.5.  Youth attitudes toward smoking 

WHO has identified tobacco smoking as the leading cause of premature illness and death in 
developed  countries,  responsible  for  more  than  14  %  of  all  deaths  in  the  WHO  European 
Region in 2005 (WHO – Europe Heath report –2005). Although the vast majority of smoking 
related  deaths  occur  among  middle  aged  and  elderly  people,  smoking  behaviours  are 
undeniably acquired well before.  

Young daily smokers may acquire the habit and become addicted before reaching adulthood, 
making  them  less  able  to  quit  and  more  likely  to  suffer  from  tobacco-related  health 
complications.  The  longer  the  onset  of  smoking  is  delayed,  the  less  likely  a  person  is  to 
become addicted. 

According to estimates, half of all new male adolescent smokers will not kick the habit for at 
least  16  years,  while  young  women  will  not  give  up  for  at  least  20  years  (WHO  –  Europe 
Health Report – 2005). 

The  total  proportion  of  smokers  increases  with  age  and  there  are,  generally  speaking,  more 
daily smokers between the age of 25 and 34 than between the ages of 15 and 24. However this 
was  not  the  case  in  Ireland  and  Hungary,  where  young  smokers  outnumbered  their  older 
counterparts. Sweden registered rather positive figures regarding young smokers, followed by 
Slovakia: in both countries, less than 20 % of the population aged between 15 and 34 are daily 
smokers,  but  this  proportion  increases  when  considering  the  45-55  age  group.  In  contrast, 
Bulgaria counted the highest shares of smokers (31 % for the population aged 15-24 and half 
of the population aged 25-34, followed by Estonia, where two-thirds of men aged 25-34 are 
regular smokers. Ireland is the only country where the share of smokers decreases with age. 
Considering the distribution of smokers by gender, it can be said that in Europe men are more 
likely to be smokers. Only in Sweden and the United Kingdom the share of female smokers 
aged 15-24 was higher than that of their male counterparts, although this no longer holds true 
for older generations (except for Sweden)  

4.2.6.  Youth attitudes towards drinking 

Aside  from  being  influenced  by  various  social  factors,  adolescents  also  engage  in  drinking 
alcohol  on  the  basis  of  their  personal  beliefs  and  goals,  as  well  as  their  family  or  social 
environment.  Alcohol  may  also  facilitate  interaction  and  making  new  friends,  increase 
perceived popularity or influence young people’s image among their peers.  

As a general pattern, Europeans have their first spell of drunkenness between the ages of 13 or 
14  in  all  countries  for  which  data  are  available.  As  a  rule,  girls  tend  to  have  their  first 
hangover at a marginally later age than boys. On average, the earliest episodes of drunkenness 

EN 

73 

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were registered in Austria, while in Mediterranean countries, such as Greece, Spain, Italy and 
Portugal the starting age was slightly higher. 

In  most  countries  considered,  more  than  80  %  of  young  Europeans  aged  17-18  years  have 
consumed alcohol over the past 12 months, with Denmark and the Czech Republic registering 
the highest shares (95 %). This was followed by Lithuania (94 %), Germany, Austria (93 %), 
Greece  and  the  United  Kingdom  (91  %).  Conversely,  the  lowest  shares  of  youths  having 
consumed  alcohol  over  the  past  12  months  were  found  in  Portugal  (74  %)  and  Sweden  (77 
%).  

In  around  half  of  the  countries  for  which  data  are  available,  more  than  50  %  of  young 
Europeans  aged  17-18  have  been  drunk  at  least  once  in  the  past  12  months.  Denmark 
accounted the highest rates of drunkenness among youths (82 %), followed by Ireland (72 %). 
In contrast, only 25 % of young people in Cyprus and 29 % in France admitted to having been 
drunk in the past 12 months. 

First episode of drunkenness 

15

14.5

14

13.5

13

12.5

12

Girls

Boys

BE CZ DK DE EE IE EL ES FR IT LV LT HU MT NL AT PL PT SI FI SE UK NO CH

EUROPEAN SCHOOL SURVEY ON ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS  

Source WHO: Young people’s health in context 

(ESPAD) 

In the 1980s, the group of experts in epidemiology of drug problems of the Pompidou Group 
at  the  Council  of  Europe  commissioned  a  team  of  investigators  to  develop  a  standardised 
school survey questionnaire. The purpose was to produce a standard survey instrument which 
would  allow  different  countries  to  compare  alcohol  and  drug  use  in  student  populations  in 
different  countries.  A  main  goal  of  the  ESPAD  project  is  to  collect  comparable  data  on 
alcohol, tobacco and drug use among students aged between 15 and 1 in as many European 
countries as possible through a survey. The survey is carried out every four years The most 
important goal in the long run is to monitor trends in alcohol and drug habits among students 
in Europe and  to compare  trends  between countries and between groups of countries. Since 

EN 

74 

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1994,  ESPAD  has  issued  four  international  reports  on  alcohol  and  other  drug  use  among 
students. The most recent report dates from March 2009. 

4.2.7.  Youth attitudes towards drugs 

Cannabis is the most popular drug among young people aged 15-34. The highest levels of use 
are generally being reported among 15-24 years old (EMCDA 2008). Estimates suggest that 
around 23 million European adults have used cannabis in the last year producing an average 
figure  of  about  7  %  among  all  15  to  64  year  olds  while  among  young  adults  age  25-34  the 
European average is calculated at 13 % (ranging from 2-20 % between countries).  

Based  on  data  for  13  countries  that  participated  a  second  field  trial  on  the  frequency  of 
cannabis use, it is roughly estimated that over 1 % of European adults (15-64 years) are using 
cannabis  daily  or  almost  daily  (about  4  million).  Most  of  them  (about  3  million)  are  aged 
between 15 and 34 years, meaning roughly 2 to 2.5 % of all young adults. In countries such as 
the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, more than 16 % of young 
persons admit to use it.  

Cocaine  remains  the  second  most  used  substance  after  cannabis,  although  its  use  is  not 
uniform across Europe (national figures range from 0.4 % to 7.7 %). For young adults, among 
those  cocaine  use  is  concentrated,  it  is  estimated  that  7.5  million  have  used  it  at  least  once 
(ranging from 0.7 % to 12.7 % between countries). It is estimated that 4 million have used it 
in the past year (1.2 % on average). Variation between countries is again considerable. 

In 2005, cocaine consumption was quite high in Spain (5 %) and the United Kingdom (5 %), 
but well behind the consumption of cannabis. 

Among young adults (15-34 years), lifetime prevalence of ecstasy use ranges at national level 
from 0.5 % to 14.6 % while between 0.4 % and 7.7 % of this age group reported using the 
drug  in  the  last  year.  On  average,  it  is  estimated  that  7.5  million  young  Europeans  (5.6  %) 
have  tried  ecstasy,  with  around  2.5  million  (1.8  %)  having  used  the  drug  in  the  last  year. 
Consumption remained high in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. 

Among  young  adults  (15-35  year  olds),  lifetime  prevalence  of  amphetamine  use  varies 
between countries, from 0.2 % to 16.5 %, with a European average of about 5 %. 

Bulgaria  and  Mediterranean  countries  such  as  Greece,  Cyprus  and  Malta  accounted  for  the 
lowest levels of drug consumption in Europe. 

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The reasons why young people try drugs are shown in the table below. 

Lack of will power

Social or economic problems

Loneliness

Problems at school/W ork

Recreation

Expected effects of drugs 

Problems at home

Thrill seeking

Peer Pressure

Curiosity

2002

2004

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Source: Eurobarometer, n°158 

“Young people and drugs”-“Why do young Europeans experiment with drugs?” 

EUROPEAN MONITORING CENTER FOR DRUGS AND DRUG ADDICTION 
(EMCDDA) 

Just  over  a  decade  ago,  Europe’s  capacity  for  monitoring  its  drug  problem  was  extremely 
limited. National approaches to the topic varied greatly and there was a lack of reliable and 
comparable  information  at  European  level  concerning  drugs,  drug  addiction  and  their 
consequences.  In  other  words,  it  was  impossible  to  talk  with  confidence  about  patterns  and 
trends  in  drug  use  across  the  EU.  The  European  Monitoring  Centre  for  Drugs  and  Drug 
Addiction (EMCDDA) was founded to change that. 

Inaugurated  in  Lisbon  in  1995,  the  EMCDDA  is  the  hub  of  drug-related  information  in  the 
European Union. It exists to provide the EU and its Member States with a factual overview of 
European drug problems and a common information framework to support the drugs debate. 
Today it offers policy-makers the scientific evidence base they need for drawing up drug laws 
and strategies and helps professionals and researchers pinpoint best practice and new areas for 
analysis. 

In 2004, according to the Eurobarometer survey, more than 60 % of young people think that 
curiosity  remains  the  chief  reason  for  trying  drugs,  a  little  more  than  45  %  invoke  peer 
pressure  and  nearly  40  %  thrill  seeking.  Less  than  one  third  of  respondents  consider  that 
young  people  try  drugs  on  account  of  problems  at  home.  Problems  at  school  or  work  were 
also  invoked  by  less  than  one  fifth  of  respondents  as  a  reason  to  experiment  with  drugs. 
Loneliness,  together  with  social  or  economic  problems,  were  given  as  a  reason  for  trying 
drugs by around 15 % of young Europeans. 

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According to Eurobarometer 2004, young Europeans aged between 15 and 24, getting hold of 
drugs does not seem to be difficult. This acquisition mainly concerns places where people go 
out in the evening. In 2004, 79 % of young respondents tended to agree that it is easy to get 
drugs at parties, compared with 76 % in pubs or clubs, 63 % near their home and 57 % in or 
near school. 

As  stated  by  European  youths  in  the  Eurobarometer  survey,  parties  and  clubs  seem  to  the 
most convenient place to purchase drugs. For 92 % of young Spanish interviewed, parties are 
the  easiest  place  for  getting  drugs.  In  Belgium,  Greece,  Italy,  the  Netherlands  and  Portugal 
young people consider drugs are more readily available in pubs and clubs. In Ireland, 78 % of 
respondents feel that they have easy access to drugs close to where they live. This contrasts 
with Finland and Sweden, where buying drugs near the home is not deemed to be easy. 

According  to  respondents,  drug  dealing  also  seems  to  be  rife  in  schools  and  colleges, 
especially in France, Spain, Greece and Portugal. 

KEY FIGURES REGARDING HEALTH 

•  Life expectancy of young people is 80;7 years for girls, 74 years for boys. 

•  Around 2 million young people have mental health problems  

•  17 % of young people aged 15-24 are overweight 

•  9% of young people aged 15-24 are underweight 

•  60% of deaths in young people aged 15-29 are due to external causes  

•  14 760 young people aged 15-29 died by transport accident  

•  7341 young people aged 15-29 died by suicide 

•  2246 young people aged 15-29 died by drug abuse 

•  1024 young people aged 15-29 died by homicide or assault 

•  467 young people aged 15-29 died due to AIDS/HIV 

•  24 % of young people aged 15-29 smoke daily 

•  First spell of drunkenness is between 13 and 14 

•  13 % of young people aged 25-34 use cannabis 

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4.3. 

Young people and leisure time  

4.3.1.  Free time decreases with age  

Broadly speaking, leisure time is a period when young people choose what they want to do 
with people they want to be with. Young people’s leisure time is sometimes associated with 
potential  risky  behaviours  (drinking,  smoking  or  violence,  etc.)  but  also  constitutes 
opportunities to play, relax and learn through informal learning and development (i.e. out of 
the academic framework). As confirmed by research conducted by the United Nations leisure 
time is important in helping young people achieve a broad range of positive outcomes, both 
social,  emotional,  vocational,  physical,  cognitive  and  civic  development  and  engagement. 
These positive outcomes may have an impact on both personal and community development. 

When people get older, the percentage of free time decreases while there is a progressive shift 
from study to working time. Indeed, in nearly all countries for which data is available, young 
people aged between 15 and 19 year enjoy free time during more than 20 % of their total time. 
This share decreases by at least 24 % in all countries when considering people aged between 
30  and  49.  Some  differences  across  countries  exist.  In  Bulgaria,  France  and  the  United 
Kingdom,  the  youngest  people  (aged  between  15  and  19)  have  less  than  20 %  of  their  total 
time free whereas in Germany, more than one quarter of a normal day is made of free time 
activities. 

Young people are not very concerned with household work. The percentage of time devoted 
to household work among those aged 30 and 49 is more than double that of the youngest age 
category.  

Watching TV is quite popular in all age ranges (people spend from 5 % to 10 % of their time 
in front of the TV). 

4.3.2.  Leisure time activities among 15-30 year olds  

The following figures are derived from a Eurobarometer survey on young people and leisure 
time.  

What young people do during their leisure time will depend on different factors such as their 
own interests and imagination, the kind of facilities available in their neighbourhood and their 
available budget. 

EN 

78 

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Activities during leisure time

Go for a walk, a bike ride, sport

Meet friends, go dancing, go out to drink, to eat

Read

Use the Internet, play video games

Watch TV

Listen to music

Go to the cinema, theatre or concerts

45

40

25

21

19

17

16

Help out in the house

10

Go shopping

7

Play an instrument

Do some work for money

4

4

Participating in voluntary or community work

2

OTHER

19

Source: 
FLASH EB 202
January 2007
GALLUP

Q3. What do you regularly do during your leisure time?
Base: all respondents
% of ”Mentioned”

Practicing sport (either going for a walk, a bike ride or any other sports) and going out to meet 
friends,  to  dance,  to  drink  or  eat  are  the  main  activities  young  Europeans  do  during  their 
leisure time. 45 % of them declared that they practice sports and 40 % declared that they go 
out with friends. Reading is still a common entertainment for one fourth of young Europeans. 
Using the Internet, playing video games and watching TV interest one fifth of them. Listening 
to music and going to the cinema and the theatre are also popular leisure activities for more 
than  15 %  of  young  people.  Helping  out  in  the  house  (10 %)  and  going  shopping  (7 %)  are 
less popular among young European youth. 

Less than 5 % of young Europeans declare that they do some work for money or to play an 
instrument whereas participation in voluntary or community work is mentioned by only 2 % 
of people aged between 15 and 30 (see chapter on volunteering). 

Young Europeans tend to participate more in artistic activities than their elders. Photography 
and films are the preferred activities of young Europeans interviewed aged 15-24, followed by 
dancing  and  singing.  A  rather  large  percentage  of  young  people  (23 %)  also  enjoy  writing, 
singing and playing an instrument, which is more than the older generations. Acting, on the 
other hand, is not a very popular activity (less than 10 % of youth surveyed has practiced it in 
the last 12 months). Leisure time is also the time for young people to get together and take 
part in activities such as going to the cinema, live performances and live sports.  

Although  the  access  to  films  at  home  has  increased  through  Internet,  DVDs  and  video 
equipment,  young  people  are  still  enjoying  to  go  out  to  watch  movies  on  a  large  screen:  at 
European level, more than 82 % of youth aged between 16 and 24 went to the cinema at least 
once  a  year.  For  the  25-29  age  group  this  was  reduced  to  58 %  and  down  to  nearly  39 % 
among people aged 30 and over.  

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The proportion of young people going to the cinema varies across countries and depends on 
various factors: the density of cinema screens in a country, the price of cinema tickets and the 
movie programming. Young people in Latvia and Lithuania go less to the cinema with 42 % 
and  37 %  respectively  of  those  aged  16-24.  A  majority  of  those  aged  25  -  29  in  these  two 
countries  did  not  watch  a  movie  at  the  cinema  in  the  past  year.  The  numbers  are  radically 
different  in  some  other  countries,  with  more  than  one  third  of  young  people  aged  16-24 
reporting that they go to the cinema more than six times a year 

4.3.3.  Attending cultural events 

Attending  live  performance  does  not  only  mean  going  to  music  festivals  but  also  to  watch 
plays, operas, ballet and dance performances performed by professionals or amateurs. Among 
young people this is less popular than going to the cinema, but a majority of them enjoyed a 
live performance at least once in 2006 except for in Italy, Malta and Poland.  

Attendance  at  live  events  depends  on  their  variety  and  quality.  They  may  also  be  more 
expensive than going to the cinema, which can at least partly explain why the difference in 
participation at live events is much less between age groups than for going to the cinema. For 
instance,  in  Belgium,  Denmark,  the  Netherlands,  Austria,  Finland,  Sweden  and  the  United 
Kingdom, the proportion of 25-29 year olds having attended one to six live performances in 
the  last  year  is  higher  than  for  16-24  year  olds.  Austrian  young  people  attend  live 
performances more often than any other EU Member State: around 19 % of the 16 to 24 year 
olds attend live performances more than 6 times a year.  

4.3.4.  Attending live sports events  

In more than half of the EU Member States, a majority of people aged 16-24 had not attended 
a  live  sporting  event  in  the  last  year,  independent  on  whether  it  was  performed  by 
professionals or amateurs (including one’s own children or siblings). 

In  2006,  around  20 %  of  young  people  (aged  16-24)  from  the  Czech  Republic,  Germany, 
Estonia,  Greece,  France,  Italy,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Portugal,  Slovakia,  Finland,  Sweden,  and 
the  United  Kingdom  went  to  live  sports  events  from  1  to  3  times  a  year.  But  in  Denmark 
(15 %),  Ireland  (21.6 %),  Luxembourg  (18.2 %)  and  Slovakia  (17.2 %)  a  significant 
proportion  of  people  aged  from  16  to  24  went on  average  more  than  every  month  to  watch 
live sports. In Malta, 76 % of young people aged 16-24 did not watch any live sport events 
during  the  whole  year  2006.  The  same  was  true  for  more  than  60  %  of  young  Greeks, 
Hungarians and young people from the UK. 

4.3.5.  Cultural visits  

Cultural  visits  are  less  frequent  for  both  young  and  old  compared  to  cinema  and  live 
performances.  In  nearly  half  of  the  European  countries,  more  than  50 %  of  the  population, 
regardless of age, never went on a cultural visit in 2006.  

In average, 41.% of young people aged 16-29 years visited cultural sites at least once a year. 
In  more  than  half  of  the  EU  Member  States,  young  people  aged  16-24  visited  cultural  sites 
between one and six times in 2006. However, there is no information on whether such visits 
were done through personal initiative or through school visits. Hungary, Austria and Finland 
show respectively 17 %, 16 % and 15 % of people aged 16 to 24 going more than 6 times to 
cultural visits in a year. In Spain and Luxembourg, more than 10 % of people aged between 
25 and 29 undertake cultural visits more than 6 times a year. 

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4.3.6.  Travels and tourism 

Europe  and  Europeans  are  keys  actors  in  the  global  tourism  market:  Europe  is  the  most 
important tourism region, both as a destination and as a source. In spite of the steady fall in its 
market  share  over  the  last  ten  years  as  a  consequence  of  the  dramatic  growth  of  dynamic 
regions such as Asia (especially South Asia), Europe still maintains its leading position. 

Harmonised  data  on  youth  travellers  and  tourism  are  difficult  to  interpret  since  data  on 
tourism  by  age  does  not  show  if  young  people  travelled  with  or  without  their  parents  or 
whether they financed their own trip. Moreover, new ways of travelling have recently made 
travel easier and cheaper for young people: travel information and access to travel agencies is 
simplified through the Internet, low cost carriers charge less and less rigid border structures 
have helped younger generations to get to know the world better. 

New holiday patterns are emerging,  forcing public and private tourism  operators to develop 
new tourism products and services and to rethink their marketing and promotional strategies. 
Young  people  today  go  more  frequently  on  holiday  trips,  but  trips  are  of  a  shorter  duration 
than before. In part, the increase in travel frequency and shorter stays has been stimulated by 
the  spread  of  low-cost  airline  travel,  which  was  identified  as  one  of  the  main  drivers  of 
tourism growth in Europe in 2006. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  age  distribution  of  people  who  travel  on  holiday  corresponds 
approximately to the age distribution of the total population. In most European countries for 
which  data  are  available,  young  people  aged  15-24  account  for  less  than  20 %  of  the  total 
number  of  holiday-travellers  (i.e.  those  who  spent  four  nights  or  more  on  holidays).  The 
Baltic  States,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Sweden  are  exceptions,  with  a  higher  share  of  young 
travellers  (between  20 %  and  30 %)  as  part  of  the  travelling  population.  Younger  travellers 
aged 15-24 represent the lowest share in Cyprus (11 %) and France (12 %). 

For nearly all countries, there is almost no difference between age groups when it comes to 
holiday  destinations.  Holidays  abroad  are  most  popular  for  people  living  in  Belgium, 
Denmark,  Germany,  Lithuania,  Slovenia,  and  the  United  Kingdom,  whereas  domestic 
holidays are most common for many Mediterranean or southern European countries (Greece, 
Spain, France, Italy, Portugal) as well as Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Finland.  

4.3.7.  Culture: united in diversity 

The  European  Union  is  primarily  an  economic,  legal  and  political  integration  project. 
However,  it  is  also  perceived  as  “…an  unprecedented  and  successful  social  and  cultural 
project”.30  Its  successive  enlargements  have  led  to  an  increase  of  diversity  within  the 
European  area  and  the  Union  has  proved  its  ability  to  respect  Member  States’  varied  and 
intertwined history, languages and cultures. 

Young  people  under  30  years  old  constitute  the  first  generation  that  lived  in  an  enlarged 
European Union and that benefit from the fours freedoms (free movement of goods, services, 
people and finance). Indeed, “United in Diversity,” the official motto of the European Union, 
testifies to the new melting pot which young Europeans are living in. 

30 

Communication  from  the  commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the 
Regions on a European agenda for culture in a globalizing world {Sec(2007) 570}. 

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'Culture'  is  complex  to  define,  as  it  can  both  refer  to  the  fine  arts  and  as  the  basis  for  a 
symbolic world of meanings, beliefs, values, traditions which are expressed in language, art, 
religion and myths.  

The personal meaning of the word “culture” does not vary extensively across age: more than 
one third of Europeans think of culture primarily in terms of arts (either performance or visual 
arts). As age increases people are more likely to think of culture in these terms, but are less 
likely to perceive culture as a link to traditions and languages. Young people (28 %) are more 
likely than their elders to consider that traditions, languages, customs and social and cultural 
communities  also  belong  to  the  field  of  cultures,  but  are  less  numerous  (20 %)  in  linking 
literature, poetry and playwriting with culture.  

4.3.8.  Culture and multiculturalism 

Multiculturalism is generally understood as a shared commitment to recognize, maintain, and 
to accord respect and value to the different cultures that coexist within a territorially defined 
space, be it that of a nation, city, region, municipality or any other society. 

Researchers  identify  three  new  trends  regarding  the  internationalisation  of  young  people  in 
Europe:  the  growing  number  of  “third  culture  kids”  (i.e.  second  and  third  generation  of 
immigrants), the increasing desire for mobility (to visit other countries, to study abroad or to 
find  employment)  and  the  transnational  circulation  of  young  well-trained  professionals.  All 
three  trends,  coupled  with  an  intensive  use  of  communication  technologies,  boost  the 
multicultural aspects of European societies and multiply the potential for young people to be 
in contact with different cultures.  

When  asking  young  Europeans  about  some  activities  that  involve  exchanges  with  foreign 
cultures,  very  practical  activities  take  the  lead.  More  than  half  of  15-24  year  olds  enjoys 
eating foreign cuisine compared to 32 % of those aged 55 and above. Around 30 % of young 
Europeans  enjoy  making  friends  with  people  from  other  European  countries  and  more  than 
20 % try to mix with other cultures by travelling abroad.  

Increased mobility within Europe (for instance through study mobility, twinning of European 
cities, cross-border labour markets, tourism) has developed young people's potential to make 
friends across Europe: a little more than 30 % of young people declared they have friends in 
other European countries. 

Watching foreign language TV and movies is also popular within people aged 15-24 and 25-
39,  but  only  13 %  of  people  aged  more  than  50  listed  it  as  an  important  cultural  exchange 
activity.  

4.3.9. 

Intercultural dialogue 

Intercultural  dialogue  is  more  than  coexistence  of  different  cultures  within  a  territorially 
defined  space.  It  may  be  defined  as  “a  process  that  comprises  an  open  and  respectful 
exchange or interaction between individuals, groups and organisations with different cultural 
backgrounds  or  worldviews.  Among  its  aims  are:  to  develop  a  deeper  understanding  of 
diverse  perspectives  and  practices;  to  increase  participation  and  the  freedom  and  ability  to 
make  choices;  to  foster  equality;  and  to  enhance  creative  processes.  The  European  Union 
declared  2008  as  the  European  Year  of  Intercultural  Dialogue  and  recognises  that  Europe’s 
great cultural diversity represents a unique advantage for all Europeans. This initiative aims at 
encouraging  all  those  living  in  Europe  to  explore  the  benefits  of  the  European  cultural 

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heritage and the opportunities to learn from different cultural traditions. 

As  a  general  pattern,  people  aged  16-24  in  the  EU  are  very  open  minded  towards  people 
coming from different parts of the world. Nearly 61 % of youth in this age group were willing 
to allow some or many people from different ethnic groups to enter their country, while 39 % 
would allow none or a few. 

Percentage of people aged 16-24 willing to allow people from different ethnic groups into 
their society- EU 27, 2006 

EU27

38.93

34.77

34.85

41.05

46.35

61.07

65.23

65.15

58.95

53.65

28.09

71.91

46.67

37.29

53.33

62.71

83.64

16.36

62.15

75.68

53.50

52.99

56.37

34.36

32.20

46.19

44.12

38.93

19.82

15.67

37.85

24.32

46.50

47.02

43.63

65.64

67.81

53.81

55.88

61.07

80.18

84.33

BE

DK

DE

EE

IE

ES

FR

CY

LV

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

SK

SI

FI

SE

UK

NO

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Non-A few

Some or Many

Source: European Social Survey31  

ESS2 (Reference period 2004-2005): Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg and Turkey 

ESS3 (Reference period 2006-2007): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, 
Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United 
Kingdom 

At national level, the picture is a little more contrasted. In more than half of the countries, a 
majority of young people consider that their country should allow some or many people from 
other ethnicities in their countries. They are proportionally less numerous in Cyprus, Latvia, 

31 

to  what  extent  do  you  think  [country]  should  allow  people  of  the  same  race  or  ethnic  group  as  most 
[country’s] people to come and live here? 

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Hungary, the  Netherlands, Austria  and  Portugal.  In  Cyprus,  Latvia  and  Hungary,  more  than 
60 % of young people aged 16-24 consider that only few people with other ethnic background 
should live in their country. 

Overall,  most  of  the  population  aged  over  16  considers  that  a  country’s  cultural  life  is 
enriched  by  immigrants.  More  than  55 %  of  Europeans  aged  between  16  and  29  agree  or 
strongly  agree  that  people  from  foreign  countries  who  live  in  their  country  enrich  their 
cultural  life.  The  agreement  with  such  statement  is  less  widespread  among  people  aged  30 
years old or more. But the benefits of intercultural dialogues are still challenged by the fact 
that one fourth of young people in the age groups 16-24 and 25-29 consider that culture is not 
enriched by immigration flows. This proportion reaches around 30 % in the population aged 
30 or more.  

At  national  level,  Poland,  Finland  and  Sweden  show  the  highest  percentage  of  people 
regardless of age that are positive towards the enrichment of their culture from foreign people. 
People  become  slightly  less  positive  towards  the  statement  as  they  grow  older,  except  in 
Estonia, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. 

KEY FIGURES ON LEISURE TIME OF YOUNG PEOPLE 

•  Young people (15-19) enjoy free time more then 20% of their total time 

•  82 % of young people aged 16-24 go to the cinema at least once a year (reduced to 58% for 

25-29) 

•  45% of young people declare practicing sport 

•  40% of young people declare going out with friends 

•  25% of young people declare reading 

•  23% of young people declare writing, singing or playing an instrument 

•  41.% of young people aged 16-29 declare visiting cultural sites at least once a year 

•  30% of young people declare having friends in other European countries 

•  61% of young people aged 16-24 will to allow ethnic group to enter their country 

•  55%  of  young  people  aged  16-29  agree  that  people  for  foreign  countries  enrich  their 

cultural life 

4.4. 

The digital generation 

Due  to  increased  popularity  and  affordability,  personal  computers  can  now  be  found  in  a 
majority of homes across the European Union. This has driven down the cost of Internet and 
made it more accessible. 

4.4.1.  Young people play a leading role in applying new technologies 

Young  people  are  usually  most  enthusiastic  towards  new  technologies,  and  are  the  first  to 
adopt and spread it. They are also most often the leading innovators in using and spreading 

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ICT. It appears that having a dependent child is an incentive to have computers at home. In 
2007,  75 %  of  households  with  at  least  one  dependent  child  have  a  computer,  compared  to 
around  50 %  of  the  total  number  of  European  households.  66 %  of  all  households  with  a 
computer also have Internet access. There is a much higher rate of households with dependent 
children that have Internet connections at home compared to those without children. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

Dependent children cover two groups. All persons below 16 are considered to be dependent 
children. Persons aged 16 to 24, living in a household of which at least one of their parents is 
a member and who are economically inactive are also considered as dependent children. 

Source: Eurostat, European Community Household Panel (ECHP) 

However,  households  that  have  a  dependent  child  may  also  be  considered  as  “young”  and 
“middle  age”  households  who  are  more  receptive  to  the  use  of  new  technologies  than  the 
older  part  of  the  population.  Furthermore,  parents  with  a  dependent  child  might  be  more 
willing to have PCs and Internet as they can be considered tools for their children's education. 

There  is  still  a  geographical  gap  when  considering  access  to  personal  computers  and  to 
Internet:  more  than  90 %  of  households  with  a  dependent  child  in  Germany,  Luxembourg, 
Slovenia, Finland and Sweden have a personal computer. This is followed by Austria (87 %) 
and the United Kingdom (85 %).  The  share of households with a dependent child that have 
access  to  a  personal  computer  and  Internet  goes  down  to  56 %  in  Greece  and  34 %  in 
Romania.  

Households  without  a  dependent  child  tend  to  have  less  access  to  a  computer  and  Internet. 
The biggest differences between the two categories of  households can be seen in the Czech 
Republic,  Cyprus  and  Lithuania.  In  these  countries,  the  proportion  of  households  with 
dependent  children  having  access  to  personal  computer  is  twice  as  high  as  those  without 
dependent children. 

4.4.2.  A generational gap in ICT 

Europe's population has increased its daily use of computers since 2004. Within the age group 
16-24, daily use of a computer has increased from 50 % in 2004 to almost 70 % in 2007. This 
tendency  can  be  seen  in  all  EU  countries.  Young  Europeans  aged  16-24  in  2007  use  the 
computer  more  often  than  any  other  age  group.  The  proportion  of  young  people  using 
computers on a daily basis is double that of the age range 45-54 in Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, 
Latvia and Malta and even three (or little less) higher in Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia 
and  Latvia.  In  the  Nordic  countries  and  in  the  Netherlands,  more  than  80 %  of  the  16-24 
years-old use a computer every day, while in Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Romania this the 
daily use of computers for this age group does not go above 50 %. 

The Internet has undergone far-reaching changes since its early days in the late 1960s, having 
developed  into  a  user  friendly  communications  infrastructure  available  for  all  citizens.  The 
Internet  became  accessible  to  the  general  public  in  the  beginning  of  the  1990s.  Its  use  is 
greatly expanding, and the proportion of daily users aged 16-24 nearly doubled between 2004 
and  2007.  16-24  year  olds  take  the  lead  in  the  daily  use  of  Internet.  At  EU  level,  59 %  of 
people age 16-24 use the Internet daily, while as for the age group 25-34 the share is 51 % 
and for people in the age range 45-54, the share is 35 %. 

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More  than  70 %  of  the  population  aged  16-24  consults  the  Internet  on  a  daily  basis  in  the 
Nordic  countries,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Luxembourg  the  Netherlands  and  Slovenia.  Greece  and 
Romania  present  the  lowest  percentage  of  people  looking  at  Internet  daily  with  34 %  and 
26 % respectively.  

Age is an important determinant in the frequency of Internet use, but the occupation or status 
of  young  people  (whether  you  are  a  student,  a  workers  etc.)  also  matters.  The  Internet  is 
commonly used in schools and universities as a learning tool. 

Almost 80 % of students in the EU Member States use computers daily and 68 % of them use 
the Internet on a daily basis. Only 7 % of European students never use the Internet. 

4.4.3.  E-mobility 

Individual  Internet  connections,  together  with  broadband  expansion  has  made  the  Internet 
more accessible to people at home. While more than 30 % of the young population used the 
Internet  in  places  such  as  Internet  cafes,  public  libraries  and  government  buildings  in  2004, 
young people now tend more and more to use it at home. In 2004, less than 50 % of the young 
population used Internet at home. This share had increased to almost 70 % in 2007. 

Home is the most common place of use of computer independent of age group. For the people 
aged 16-24 the preferred place is at home and at the place of education while the older people 
use computers at home and at work except for Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia where 
the primary source of Internet access is the place of education. 

The place of education is also a very common place for an Internet connection when young 
people are aged 16-24. More than 50 % of young people from the Czech Republic, Denmark, 
the Baltic States, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Finland, use the 
Internet  at  their  education  places,  while  in  other  European  countries,  although  being  the 
second source of Internet use, the percentage stays below 30 %. The place of education is not 
anymore such a popular place for Internet uses at the age range 25-34 due to the fact that most 
people at those age ranges have left education and started a working career. 

In France and Finland, looking at the Internet at a friend's houses is common practice. In these 
countries, respectively 53 % and 67 % of the young people aged 16-24 access the Internet in 
friends' houses. The percentage stays at levels of 41 % in France and 51 % for Finland within 
the age range 25-34. 

Internet cafés are also quite popular for people aged 16-24, especially in Greece, where 24 % 
of this group use them to connect to the Internet, but also 18 % in Slovakia, 14 % in Poland 
and  13 %  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  Among  its  population  aged  25-34,  only  Spain  shows  an 
important  use  of  Internet  cafes  (10 %).  In  the  rest  of  the  European  countries  there  is  a 
remarkable decrease in the use of Internet cafés among older age groups. 

For  people  aged  25-34,  their  working  place  allows  them  to  access  the  Internet.  In  the 
Netherlands, more than 60 % use the work place as a connection to the Internet. On the other 
hand, in Romania this proportion reaches only 16 %. 

4.4.4.  E-skills 

E-skills are not just pure technical skills but also cross-disciplinary, cognitive  and problem-
solving  skills  as  well  as  an  understanding  of  the  fundamentals  of  the  new  communication 

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strategies.  In  fact,  the  European  e-Skills  Forum  considers  that  e-skills  cover  three  main 
categories (ICT practitioner skills, ICT user skills and E-business skills) that are only partially 
covered by current data. 

Developing computer skills will also help the development of new types of social relations, 
business competitiveness and innovation in Europe. Finally, the lack of adequate e-skills may 
increase the risk of exclusion. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

The European e-Skills Forum has adopted a definition of the term “e-skills” covering: 

ICT  practitioner  skills:  the  capabilities  required  for  researching,  developing,  designing, 
strategic  planning,  managing,  producing,  consulting,  marketing,  selling, 
integrating, 
installing, administering, maintaining, supporting and servicing ICT systems. 

ICT  user  skills:  the  capabilities  required  for  the  effective  application  of  ICT  systems  and 
devices by the individual. ICT users apply systems as tools in support of their own work. User 
skills  cover  the  use  of  common  software  tools  and  of  specialised  tools  supporting  business 
functions  within  industry.  At  the  general  level,  they  cover  “digital  literacy”.  Digital  literacy 
involves  the  confident  and  critical  use  of  ICT  for  work,  leisure  and  communication 
underpinned  by  basic  ICT  skills:  the  use  of  computers  to  retrieve,  assess,  store,  produce, 
present  and  exchange  information  and  to  communicate  and  participate  in  collaborative 
networks via the Internet. 

E-business  skills:  the  capabilities  needed  to  exploit  opportunities  provided  by  ICT,  notably 
the  Internet;  to  ensure  more  efficient  and  effective  performance  of  different  types  of 
organisations; to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business/administrative and 
organisational processes; and/or to establish new businesses. 

Source: European Commission – DG Enterprises and Industry 

There is an obvious gap between the levels of computer skills of people aged 16-24 and those 
of people aged 45-54. In 2007, 41 % of Europeans aged 16-24 are able to carry on at least 5 or 
6 computer related activities. This figure decreases with the age to 35 % of people aged 25-
34, 26 % for 35-44 and only 18 % for people aged 45-54. Looking deeply into the European 
countries,  some  differences  can  be  pointed  out.  In  Denmark,  Ireland,  The  Netherlands, 
Finland, and Sweden, the level of high skills computer users aged 25-34 is higher than within 
the people aged 16-24. This gap may be also explained by the way of acquisition of computer 
skills (self learning, peers etc). 

Digital  competence  can  be  acquired  through  various  learning  opportunities  (formal,  non 
formal or informal). Data show that people usually use many of these different alternatives to 
improve their personal skills. 

At EU 27 level, getting e-Skills is often a “learning by doing” process for young people since 
most of them acquired some of their e-skills by sitting in front of their computers and playing 
with the machine (72 % of people aged 16-24 and 66 % of people aged 25-34 improve their e-
skills  by  themselves).  But  asking  for  informal  assistance  to  colleagues,  friends  and  family 
members is also frequent, (65 % of the people aged 16-24 and 59 % of the people aged 25-
34). Formalized educational institutions are a place of obtaining e-skills more popular within 
the  youngest  (people  aged  16-24),  due  probably  to  the  fact  that  education  in  the  field  of 

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information  technologies  has  been  wide  spread  in  European  schools  in  the  last  years  (in 
2002/03  most  of  European  countries  had  included  ICT  in  their  compulsory  curriculum  in 
primary  and  general  secondary  education  as  a  “separate  subject  in  its  own  right  or/and  as  a 
tool for other subjects”).  

In  all  European  countries,  young  people  (16-24)  combine  all  or  part  of  these  three  ways  to 
acquire or improve their e-skills but the hierarchy may vary across countries. For instance, in 
Germany, young people  are more numerous to ask for informal assistance (91 % of the age 
group)  than  to  learn  by  doing  (87 %)  or  through  formal  educational  institutions  (69 %).  In 
most of the countries except Estonia (69 %), France (53 %) and Sweden (50 %), less than the 
half  of  young  people  aged  between  16  and  24  self-study  using  books,  cd-roms  or  other 
material. 

People aged 25 to 34 use the same means of acquiring e-skills as their younger counterparts. It 
should  also  be  emphasized  that  they  are  more  numerous  than  their  junior  peers  to  develop 
their skills through self study or training course and adult education center. In nearly half of 
the countries, more than 10 % of this age group attended such a training course.  

Girls  and  boys  acquire  their  e-skills  through  the  same  means  with  a  slight  preference  for 
women aged 16-24 to use formalized education. 

USEFUL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS 

Different uses of computers 

Sending / receiving e-mails: It includes the use of e-mail for sending messages to friends or 
for getting information on goods/services. 

Telephoning  over  the  Internet  /  videoconferencing:  Telephoning  over  the  Internet  is  a 
relatively  inexpensive  method  to  communicate  and  is  often  the  method  used  by  companies 
offering reduced cost telephone charges. Users may not be aware that they are communicating 
using  such  Internet-based  telephony,  Voiceover-  IP  or  VoIP.  Next  to  nVoIP,  peer-to-peer 
telephony  is  becoming  more  important.  The  user  needs  to  install  a  little  program  (such  as 
Skype)  for  making  free  calls  over  the  Internet  to  anyone  else  who  also  has  this  software. 
Usually,  one  can  also  make  calls  to  normal  fixed  or  mobile  lines  via  a  pre-paid  credit. 
Videoconferencing includes audio and visual communication between two or more groups or 
persons.  Videoconferencing  is  more  widely  used  by  organisations  and  replaces  the  need  for 
face to face meetings.  

Other (use of chat sites, messenger, etc.): Chat sites can be used by two or more persons for 
the  purpose  of  communication.  This  communication  is  by  written  word  (similar  to  email). 
This  item  also  covers  instant  messaging  which  means  real-time  communication  between 
people on the basis of typed text. 

Finding  information  about  goods  or  services:  Using  the  Internet  to  seek  for  information 
about  any  household  good,  for  example,  films,  music,  video-games,  books,  e-learning 
material,  clothes,  electronic  equipment  computer  software  or  services  for  example  banking, 
financial  or  health  services.  It  does  not  include  transactions,  e.g.  purchases  of  any  goods  or 
services (although one will usually look up information on a good or services before actually 
purchasing it).  

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Using  services  related  to  travel  and  accommodation:  Includes  using  the  Internet  for 
ascertaining  information  or  to  purchase  goods  and  services  in  relation  to  travel  and 
accommodation, for example travel tickets, hotels or any other type of accommodation or web 
sites containing information for tourists. 

Listening  to  web  radios  /  watching  web  television:  This  covers  both  live  streaming  (real-
time) and radio or TV ‘on demand’ (batch, i.e. the user can listen/watch programs later on).  

Playing  or  downloading  games,  images,  films  or  music:  This  refers  to  actually 
downloading games, images for use, films for watching, or music for listening. 

Downloading  software:  Includes  downloading  software  either  free  of  charge  or  under 
payment. 

Reading or downloading online newspapers / news magazines: This includes all types of 
online newspapers and magazines either free of charge or under payment.  

Looking  for  a  job  or  sending  a  job  application:  Includes  searching  specific  web  sites  for 
job  ‘hunting’  or  for  sending  an  application  for  a  job.  Sending  a  job  application  should  be 
included in this category only if it was sent on-line. 

Seeking  health-related  information  (e.g.  injury,  disease,  nutrition,  improving  health, 
etc.):  This  item  refers  to  Internet  use  for  health  related  activities.  The  scope  is  limited  to 
private  purpose,  professional  use  is  not  taken  into  account.  Private  should  however  not  be 
limited to own personal use, but can also include Internet use for health related activities on 
behalf  of  other  family  members  or  friends.  Includes  general  searches  via  a  search  engine 
(Google,  Yahoo!,)  using  keywords  in  one  of  the  mentioned  fields.  This  item  also  includes 
more  specific  searches  on  specialized  websites  such  as  the  Ministry  of  Health,  non-
governmental bodies or interest groups. It includes activities such as making an appointment 
on-line  with  a  practitioner,  requesting  a  prescription  on-line  from  a  practitioner  or  seeking 
medical advice on-line from a practitioner. 

Internet Banking:  This  includes  electronic  transactions with a bank for payment, transfers, 
etc. or for looking up account information. Electronic transactions for other types of financial 
services are not covered by this category. 

Selling  goods  or  services  (e.g.  via  auctions)  Selling  goods  or  services  on-line  does  not 
require an electronic payment transaction, i.e. the transaction or ‘deal’ is done on-line but the 
payment and/or delivery can take place off-line. Putting an advertisement on a website to, for 
example, sell a second-hand bicycle or a spare ticket for an event, is not included here as the 
transaction is in general not concluded on-line in an automatic manner (but via a phone call or 
informal e-mail).  

Obtaining information from public authorities’ websites: Includes searching to obtain any 
type of information from public authority web sites. Public authorities’ web sites include local 
or central government offering information or services.  

Downloading  official  forms:  Includes  downloading  official  forms  from  public  authorities' 
websites for any purpose of use (e.g. for information or for requesting a service). 

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Sending  in  filled  forms:  Includes  filled  in  forms  sent  via  Internet  (public  authorities' 
websites) only. Forms downloaded, printed, filled in and sent by post are not included in this 
category. 

Source: Eurostat – Statistics on the Information Society.  

4.4.5.  Using the Internet 

Being familiar with computers is a first step toward using the Internet. It appears that most of 
young  people  know  how  to  use  the  basic  functions  of  the  Internet  (using  search  engine, 
sending email with attachments or post message in a chat room) but fewer know how to create 
a web page or to make Internet phone calls. 

Using the Internet as a search engine is the most widely spread e-skill  in  European  society, 
followed by attaching files to e-mails and posting messages to chat rooms. This is true for all 
the age ranges, although the percentage of people with this kind of skills decreases with age. 

People age 16-24 have integrated into their lives the Internet as a communication tool. Except 
for Romania and Cyprus (where the percentage does not reach 50 %), the great majority of the 
population aged 16-24 know how to send e-mail with attachments. Almost all the population 
in Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Finland, is in this situation. 

The level of people being able to send an e-mail with an attachment within the age range 25-
34  decreases  with  respect  to  the  previous  age  range  (except  in  Ireland  where  it  increases 
slightly) The biggest gap between the two age groups can be seeing in Lithuania and Portugal, 
where the decrease is more than one fourth. 

If looking at other Internet skills, posting messages in chat rooms and making Internet phone 
calls  are  also  common.  Regarding  the  use  of  the  Internet  for  phone  calls,  the  differences 
between  age  ranges  is  not  high.  Peer  to  peer  file  sharing  seems  to  be  a  competence  of  the 
youngest people. The creation of websites is a less popular skill. 

European youth like to search for information using Internet search tools: they go shopping 
from  home  by  Internet,  play  games  with  friends  they  have  never  seen,  open  an  Internet 
account and listen to music. Their activities are the same of older generations; they just do it 
in  a  new  way.  This  is  especially  true  when  considering  communication:  the  youngest 
generations are developing new ways to interact with their world from the Internet and their 
computers. 

Europeans from all age ranges use the Internet for communication purposes. Indeed, 85 % or 
more of Internet users in all age groups did so, but young people tend to be relatively more 
numerous to use other kind of communications tools (such as chat sites or messengers, etc.) 
than their elders. 

The second most used activity is searching information about goods and services even if it is 
remarkable how older Europeans take more advantage of this utility than younger Europeans. 
However,  young  people  play  or  download  games  and  music  or  software  more  than  older 
people do.  

Internet is also a way to get in touch with future employers for young people: nearly 30 % of 
them  have  search  specific  web  sites  for  job  hunting  or  for  sending  an  application  for  a  job. 
This is more than 10 % compared to older people. 

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Younger  people  are  less  numerous  than  their  elders  to  use  the  Internet  for  interactions  with 
public authorities or practice Internet banking. 

Apart from the Internet’s communication capacity reflected in the high use of the Internet for 
sending  and  receiving  e-mails,  more  than  50 %  of  people  aged  16-24  used  the  Internet  for 
downloading  music  and  games.  Less  than  50  %  of  young  population  use  Internet  for 
educational  purposes  and  job  searching  (although  the  figures  relating  to  education  activities 
are not available for all demographics). Last, but not least, the Internet is becoming a reliable 
way  for  financial  transactions  especially  in  later  years.  This  is  due  to  the  developments  of 
security systems that make more reliable for society, especially the youngest, to work on the 
Internet for banking purposes. However, young Europeans use less Internet banking probably 
because they have not yet acquired a regular income and usually don’t need to make financial 
operations regularly. 

It appears that, regarding the evolution in Internet use, sending e-mail comes first, followed 
by travel and accommodation booking. Downloading music is another important activity that 
has  seen  an  almost  10  %  increase  in  the  last  4  years.  Using  the  Internet  for  educational 
purposes has been stable while the Internet is becoming a valuable tool for job searching.  

There are generally few gender differences in Internet activities. Increasingly, boys and girls 
equally use the Internet for communication purposes (such as social networking) and sending 
e-mails and to a lower extent to interact with public authorities, to search for a job or to do 
electronic  transactions  with  a  bank  for  payment,  transfers,  etc  (i.e.  Internet  banking).  More 
men than women aged 16-24 use the Internet for playing games, this is the most remarkable 
gender difference. Women are more interested in information such as health and travel while 
men pay more attention to entertainment such as games, news, phone calls and radio. 

4.4.6.  E-commerce 

Clothes, sporting goods, books and magazines are the main goods acquired via e-commerce 
(Internet purchase). 

According  to  Eurostat's  Community  survey  on  ICT  usage  in  households  and  by  individuals 
(2007),  people  aged  16-24  prefer  to  buy  clothes  and  sporting  goods,  followed  by  films  and 
music. More than 10 % use the Internet for cultural and leisure activities such as to purchase 
books,  magazines  and  e-learning  material,  and  also  tickets  for  events.  Within  the  age  range 
16-24 not so many people (less than 10 %) rely on Internet shopping for computer software, 
hardware or electronic equipment. Looking at the age range 25-34 the preferences change: if 
clothes  and  spots  goods  keep  a  prime  position,  more  than  15 %  of  the  25-34  years  old  buy 
online books, magazines and e-learning material.  

Purchasing  through  the  Internet  is  not  yet  widespread  among  European  Internet  users  and 
show  great  disparities  across  countries.  In  fact,  in  most  of  the  countries,  less  than  10 %  of 
those who used Internet in the last twelve months purchased goods such as books, films and 
music,  hardware,  software,  electronic  equipment  or  clothes.  People  from  Germany,  France, 
Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  Austria,  Nordic  countries  and  the  United  Kingdom  were, 
during 2007 the most active in such Internet purchases. On the reverse, in Bulgaria, Greece, 
Lithuania  and  Romania,  3 %  or  less  of  each  age  group  purchased  such  goods  through  the 
Internet. 

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Internet users aged between 25 and 34 are proportionally more numerous than their juniors to 
purchase  goods  via  the  Internet.  This  is  true  in  most  of  the  countries  and  for  most  of  the 
categories of goods that are presented here. 

Clothes  (and  sporting  goods)  as  well  as  music  and  films  are  the  goods  and  services  most 
purchased by Internet users in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Sweden, and United Kingdom by 
young  people  aged  between  16  and  24.  Indeed,  more  than  25 %  (but  less  than  40 %)  of 
Internet  users  of  this  age  group  purchased  such  goods  during  2007.  In  nearly  half  of  the 
countries,  more  people  bought  books,  magazines  and  e-learning  material  than  any  other 
goods.  It  is  the  case  of  clothes  and  sporting  goods  in  Belgium,  France,  Cyprus,  the 
Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Romania. Buying music and films come first in only five 
countries (Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and United Kingdom) for this age group. 

KEY FIGURES ON THE DIGITAL AND INTERNET GENERATION 

•  70% of young people aged 16-24 daily use computers (in 2007 compared to 50% in 2004) 

•  59% of young people aged 16-24 daily use Internet 

•  41% of young people aged 16-24 are able to carry on at least 5 computer related activities 

(18% for 35-44) 

•  30% of young people declare searching a job on Internet 

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5. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  DERIVED  FROM  RESEARCH  FOR  POLICYMAKERS  AND  YOUTH 
WORKERS 

The European Commission has funded a number of youth-related research projects under the 
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Research Framework Programmes (from 1996 to 2013). The 
report "European Research on Youth" examines the results achieved so far and analyses some 
common  recurring  themes  which  are  of  interest  to  policymakers  and  persons  working  with 
young people.32 

The report suggests a number of recommendations for policymaking in terms of content and 
methodology.  Some  of  these  recommendations  are  concerned  with  the  ways  in  which 
policymaking happens in general when addressing issues of engagement of citizens, avoiding 
exclusion,  and  the  practices  which  contribute  to  success.  Others  address  the  content  of 
policymaking more directly and provide advice on how to most appropriately address issues 
relating  to  young  peoples’  participation  in  employment,  their  transition  from  education  and 
training  to  the  world  of  work,  and  finally  their  participation  in  society  as  committed  and 
engaged citizens. 

The recommendations are presented at two levels: 

A first level of recommendations which are directed to policymakers in general which identify 
good  practice  to  inform  the  policymaking  process.  A  second  level  which  identifies 
recommendations of particular interest to those who are working in the youth policy field and 
dealing with issues of exclusion, effective transition to the world of work and citizenship. 

5.1. 

 Recommendations to policymakers  

In order to ensure good practice policymaking should be seen as a process which: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

32 

involves  all  the  key  actors  in  a  given  area,  stakeholders  and  those  who  will  be  the 
target public of the policy. 

is  holistic,  involving  the  consideration  of  every  aspect  of  a  particular  issue,  at  the 
levels  at  which  action  is  required,  and  considering  the  impacts  both  intended  and 
unintended which are likely to be the end result of the policy. 

where  context  plays  a  crucial  role  in  determining  what  works  and  what  does  not. 
Policymakers need to be aware of the role of context when examining policy models 
from other countries and ensure that they fully consider the importance of the cultural, 
historical, and social context within which they are operating. 

builds  on  the  broader  policy  context  created  at  EU  level  through  macro  level 
approaches  such  as  those  advocated  in  the  Renewed  Social  Agenda  and  the  Lisbon 
impetus  for  reform  processes  within  Member  States. 
Process,  creating  an 

These  recommendations  appeared  in  the  policy  review  "European  Research  on  Youth"  (European 
Commission,  April  2009).  The  publication  is  available  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-
sciences/library_en.html. 

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Policymakers  should  act  on  this  impetus  and  adapt  their  policies  to  suit  their  local 
contexts. 

is  creative,  all  embracing  and  which  anticipates  issues  rather  than  one  which  is 
premised  on  developing  a  reactive  approach  to  particular  problems.  Policymakers 
should take a longer term view which sees particular initiatives as part of a continuum 
of legislative action. 

ensures appropriate balance between the development of policies targeting individual 
needs  and  approaches  which  address  broader  infrastructural  questions  within  which 
social objectives can be achieved. 

where  evaluation  and  monitoring  are  seen  as  a  continuing  part  of  the  policymaking 
process.  They  should  not  be  based  on  quantitative  data  but  should  also  address  the 
effectiveness of policies in qualitative terms. 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

5.2. 

 Recommendations to youth workers 

In  order  to  ensure  effective  policymaking  by  those  working  with  young  people  and  their 
transition from education to work policymakers should: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

ensure  that  the  voice  of  young  people  is  heard  when  formulating  policies  to  enable 
them  to  move  from  education  and  training  into  the  world  of  employment. 
Policymaking should be with young people rather than for them. 

prioritise  involving  young  people  in  identifying  solutions,  developing  appropriate 
responses  and  exploring  implementation  issues  particularly,  but  not  only,  when  they 
are  addressing  issues  of  preparing  responses  to  issues  of  exclusion  from  the  labour 
market and society. 

encourage partnerships between the worlds of education and enterprise in fostering the 
transition of young people into employment and in supporting the development of the 
competences  and  skills  young  people  need  to  participate  fully  in  employment  and 
society.  Policymakers  should  promote  such  partnerships  and  use  them  as  a  testing-
ground when they are developing policies. 

adopt  flexibility  of  approach  in  the  identification  of  options  when  examining  issues 
relating to the integration of young people into the world of employment. This entails 
examining  options  and  choices  which  may  involve  a  number  of  policy  areas  which 
potentially  impact  on  the  transition  from  education  and  training  to  the  world  of 
employment. 

ensure effective transition of young people into active life. This will not happen in a 
sustainable  way  without  significant  investment  of  time  and  resources  in  putting  in 
place  appropriate system  wide  infrastructural initiatives which target social inclusion 
and the effective participation of young people in employment. 

elaborate  policies  which  are  aimed  at  ensuring  the  effective  engagement  and 
participation  of  young  people  in  citizenship  initiatives  at  local  and  national  levels. 
These  have  an  added  benefit  of  enhancing  young  peoples’  sense  of  themselves  as 
European citizens. 

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(7) 

(8) 

take  care  that  enterprise  education  plays  a  major  role  in  ensuring  that  young  people 
develop the kinds of skills which will enable them to participate effectively in society 
and in the labour market. 

ensure  that  they  are  aware  of  any  unintended  outcomes  of  policies  to  promote  the 
inclusion  of  young  people  in  society.  There  can  be  a  danger  that  some  such  policies 
may  have  the  effect  of  excluding  significant  numbers  of  young  people  because  of  a 
lack of education and/or training. 

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