Young people in Europe are worried about what the future holds. Compared to their peers in other regions of the world, they are much more pessimistic about what lies ahead. Only 12% of young people in Belgium, 16% of those in Spain, and 30% in Poland, for example, feel that their generation is likely to have a better life than their parents.

This pessimism is not unjustified. In the European context, young people are the age group at the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion. Moreover, they increasingly face barriers to accessing their social and economic rights, including a difficult transition from education to employment, a lack of quality jobs, and poor access to social protection.

Our economic and social model is one where employment plays a central role in our lives, with work as the means through which individuals generate income. Today, work is considered an activity that is highly desirable: it provides access to certain benefits, like social protection, and it can offer the potential for self-expression and self-realization.