Make it Strong: New report on European resilience

A new report published by the Infra4NextGen project today (Thursday 6 November) explores attitudes towards education, employment, family life, intergenerational solidarity and democracy.

The data summary on the Make it Strong theme focuses on how effectively young people navigate the double transition from school to work and from youth to adulthood.

Researchers analysed data from the European Social Survey, Generations and Gender Survey and International Social Survey Programme to examine public opinion by age within countries.

The analysis focused on attitudes amongst younger respondents (aged under 35) by gender, education level, and place of living (urban or rural).

Education

The final and 5th data summary to be delivered as part of the project found that, across all countries, older people are more likely to rate their educational opportunities as unfair compared to younger respondents.

Amongst those aged under 35, more highly educated individuals tend to think that educational opportunities are fair, compared to young people educated to a medium or high level.

Employment

On employment, in most European countries younger adults tend to report slightly more favourable perceptions of pay fairness than older adults, although this trend is not uniform.

Additionally, there is a split between geographical areas when assessing the fairness of pay. The report states: "Perceptions of wage fairness are lowest in eastern European and rural regions, pointing to ongoing regional and socioeconomic disparities."

Individuals aged under 35 are more likely to think that having job security is more important than being able to work independently, though support for both measures is relatively high.

Family life

With record low fertility rates across the European Union, younger people in the selection of countries where this topic was covered cite a lack of financial stability, secure housing, and access to childcare as some of the key reasons for not having children.

The report states: "Family formation decisions are closely linked to financial stability, housing, and childcare access, with younger and lower-educated adults expressing lower confidence in meeting these preconditions."

Amongst young people (aged under 35), more highly educated respondents favour government and private provision to care for children, whereas lower-educated Europeans prefer family members.

The report also highlights gender and education gaps amongst those who return to work after parental leave, with women and people with lower education levels less likely to return to employment.

Intergenerational solidarity

Younger Europeans aged under 35 tend to be more in favour of parents providing financial help to their adult children when they are in financial difficulties.

The youngest generation (those aged under 25) and male respondents aged under 35 are the most supportive of children providing care for their parents.

The report states: "In countries with stronger welfare systems, reliance on family financial transfers is lower while, in those with limited institutional support, families play a compensatory role."

Attitudes towards democracy

Younger Europeans report relatively higher trust in democratic institutions but lower voter turnout than older groups, although they engage more in civic and protest activities.

Trust in the national and European parliaments tends to be higher amongst those aged under 35 than older age groups but this is not reflected in the proportion of those who vote in elections.

In all countries, turnout for the previous national election was higher amongst the over 55 age group compared with those aged under 35.

The largest differences were found in Ireland (92.1% compared with 47.8%); France (72.2% and 39%); as well as Latvia (80.9% and 47.7%).

Amongst those aged under 35, there was a huge education gap, with 79.6% of respondents in the most highly educated group voting compared with only 37.1% of those with the lowest education level.

Young people are also more likely to take part in demonstrations than older respondents in most countries, but the differences are relatively small.

There is, however, clear divides in gender, education and between those living in urban and rural areas for participation in demonstrations amongst those aged under 35.

The report states: "Among young Europeans, participation in demonstrations shows notable differences by gender, education, and place of living."

The research was conducted by the academic expert for the Make it Strong theme, Rumiana Stoilova, with support from Petya Ilieva and Martin Velichkov at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Read this latest data summary: Make it Strong: Building a Resilient Europe

View all Data Summaries

Provided by European Social Survey ERIC