On 6th May 2022, the Commission published its Flash Eurobarometer on Youth and Democracy, conducted between 22 February and 4 March 2022. With the European Year of Youth in full swing, and at the end of the Conference on the future of Europe – where youth played a crucial part – it allows to take stock of the sentiment among the young generation.
The new Eurobarometer survey shows growing youth engagement: today, a majority (58%) of young people are active in the societies they live in and have participated in one or more youth organisations over the last 12 months. This is an increase of 17 percentage points since last Eurobarometer in 2019. In addition, young people’s most common expectation for the 2022 European Year of Youth is for decision-makers to listen more to their demands and act on them, and to support their personal, social and professional development (72%).
Youth Flash Eurobarometer
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has reinforced young people’s conviction that preserving peace, reinforcing international security and promoting international cooperation is the very first objective of the EU (37%). The next highest expectations are for the EU to increase job opportunities for young people (33%), fight poverty and economic and social inequalities (32%) as well as to promote environmentally friendly policies and fight climate change (31%).
Young people see mental and physical health and wellbeing (34%), protecting the environment and fighting climate change (34%) but also education and training, including the free movement of learners (33%) as the focus areas for the European Year of Youth.
Despite the pandemic, the survey shows an increase in transnational youth mobility compared to 2019, reflecting the strong willingness to re-connect between young people across borders. About four in ten young people (39%) have participated in a professional, volunteering, learning or sporting activity in another EU country, compared to just over three in ten (31%) in 2019. The lack of financial means remains a key reason for non-participation in mobility projects, although the financial obstacle is declining (36% compared to 42% in 2019).
Finally, Eurobarometer results confirm that the Erasmus+ programme, which celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2022, is known by more than half of young respondents although some differences remain between Member States with the share of young people knowing Erasmus+ for students being largest in Greece (72%) and Cyprus (70%) and smallest in Sweden (26%).
Find the factsheet for Greece here
Flash Eurobarometer 502_Youth and Democracy in the European Year of Youth_Summary
