Generally speaking, younger people trust in governments and the EU more than older age cohorts. Governments, however, are doing little to prove themselves worthy of that trust.
Socially and economically, young people have suffered disproportionately in the crises of the past decade and a half.
The EU Commission’s recently published report on employment and social developments in Europe – with a focus on outcomes for young Europeans – paints a dark picture of the economic and social situation for people below 30.
In 2020, during the pandemic, young people were more likely to be closed up in a small apartment or some form of shared housing than other age cohorts, as well as more likely to be in precarious job situations than those who have been in the job market for a long time.
Employment rates declined more for young people than other age groups, and contrary to the labour market in general, youth employment had not recovered to its pre-crisis level by the end of 2021.
Perhaps not unrelated, young people were also more likely to suffer mental health issues, with 17% of respondents in the age group 18-29 reporting anxiety or depression, in comparison to 11% of the 30-34 group.
But the disproportionately adverse effects on young people did not begin at the start of the pandemic.
After the financial crisis of 2008, youth unemployment in the EU skyrocketed from around 15% to 22% in 2009 and up to 25% in 2013, with much worse figures in some EU member states.
Moreover, these figures edged downwards only very slowly over the course of the past decade.
“The length and severity of a recession is a crucial determinant of the extent of the scarring effects on young people,” the EU Commission’s report reads, adding that “mild and long recessions have a considerably more negative impact on young people compared to deep and short recessions.”
Thanks to the EU’s fast reaction by setting up the SURE program to save jobs and by setting up the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the EU was on track to bounce back much faster from this crisis than from the last.
These reasons for optimism are now threatened, however, by the economic slowdown that the Russian invasion is causing in Europe. On Thursday (14 July), the Commission once again had to correct its GDP forecast downwards.
While the economic situation and the reasons for the downturn are different from those of a decade ago, once again it is young people in precarious jobs who are most at risk of bearing the brunt.
While Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni recalled the need for solidarity in this crisis when he presented the economic outlook, demographic trends and electoral logic are not in favour of young people. The median age of the EU rose to 44.1 years in 2021; 2.5 years older than the median age in 2011.
In some ways, the 2010s felt like a time in which Europe was preparing for its retirement – all while forgetting that the kids are still in the house and have nowhere to go. Europe was very cautious with spending money, while neglecting investments in the future.
It remains to be seen whether the EU will refocus its attention on future generations in the challenges ahead.
One of the big problems for young people is the affordability of houses, or the lack thereof. House prices have spiked by 9.8% in the euro area and 10.5% in the EU in the first quarter of 2022, compared with the same period last year, as recent figures from Eurostat show.
House prices have been growing steadily for over a decade, with a 45% increase since 2010. For Europeans, buying a house became cheaper only after the second quarter of 2011, but in 2015 house prices spiked up again and have not stopped growing since then.
There are considerable differences among member states. Since 2010, house prices have more than doubled in Estonia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania and Austria.
Meanwhile, Cyprus and Italy are among the few EU countries where home seekers have seen property prices decrease.
The rise of house prices is increasing concerns of housing affordability, especially for the lower income classes already squeezed by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of this, the economic and energy crisis due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine is putting even more pressure on households, faced with high inflation rates and a rising cost of living.