Just published - Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world (free download)

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-05/ef23097en.pdf

Abstract

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/2024/becoming-adults-young-people-post-pandemic-world

During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it had been in recent years, many obstacles remained on their route to independence, such as the rising cost of living and inability to move out of the parental home. This report explores young people’s wishes and plans for the future – and the well-being outcomes related to these plans – in the context of the current labour market and housing situation and progress on the implementation of the EU’s reinforced Youth Guarantee.

Key messages

Housing is one of the main obstacles to young people becoming independent, with the less financially well-off being less likely to be able to move out of the parental home, putting financial strain on the household. Young people living with their parents are most likely to have difficulty making ends meet. New findings reveal that a mismatch between aspirations and concrete plans, especially when it comes to finding a job, is associated with a higher risk of depression among young people. Despite the mental well-being of young people improving since the pandemic, in 2023 it was still weaker than those aged over 30.

The mismatches between young people’s aspirations and their concrete plans when it comes to housing are striking, with young people finding themselves squeezed out of home ownership and still in the family home or stuck renting. These unfulfilled aspirations to move out of the parental home are associated with a higher likelihood of feeling excluded from society. Although the EU’s current high youth employment rate has alleviated pressures on active labour market policies and the reinforced Youth Guarantee, some groups still face challenges. It will be critical in the coming period to continue this support and for EU policy to focus on young mothers, who are now the most likely to not be in education, employment or training, and severe regional disparities.

LGBTQ+ young people and those at risk of depression are most likely to have unfulfilled aspirations to have children. Higher incomes and living with parents are associated with a higher likelihood of young people planning to have children soon where half report they would like to move in with a partner within three years, about a third would like to get married and a similar proportion would like to have children.