Youth in Europe: Effects of Covid-19 on their Economic and Social Situation

This study looks at how the long-term repercussions of the pandemic for young people required an in-depth understanding of the multifaceted and uneven socio-economic impacts across regions in the EU, as well as of the pre-crisis situation and structural weaknesses. This is all the more important against the backdrop of an accelerating transition to a green and more digitalised economy.

This study reviews the state of play of the COVID-19 impact on employment and well-being for young people (15-29) as well as the emerging challenges these impacts imply, especially in the medium and long term. The study first asks why the pandemic-induced crisis has hit youth disproportionately. It then uses mainly Eurostat data to analyse developments in youth employment, unemployment, inactivity and social exclusion in quantitative terms, as well as policy documents, notably recent reports from Cedefop, Eurofound, ILO and the OECD to describe the impact of the crisis on well-being and mental health of young people. It further explores the type and scope of public policies that EU countries have
put in place to avoid a long-lasting negative impact on the employment prospects and aspirations of young people.

Using social scoreboard indicators to monitor the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (e.g. NEET and ELET rates) it discusses the question of whether the negative consequences of the pandemic threaten to undo the last decade of progress. By comparing the policy responses in the crisis with those during the global financial crisis, it further explores whether policy initiatives
on national and European levels (e.g. the reinforced Youth Guarantee) are suitable and sufficient to avoid long-term scarring effects on youth.