What do young Europeans want? Labour market and experienced exclusions

Employment opportunities for young people are increasingly determined not only by competences, but also by the level of education, health and the ability to reconcile work with education.

We are used to labeling young people in an extreme and often simplistic way. However, between the image of “lazy snowflakes” and the vision of “revolutionary followers of a quieter life instead of continuous development” there is a huge group of people who are much more likely to face the real and mundane problems of entering adulthood than with characteristics built on the basis of Internet trends or media stereotypes. Fashion and consumer choices are only part of the reality of young people. Today, they face not only concerns about artificial intelligence replacing their jobs, but also the difficulties of combining study with work and professional exclusion due to health problems or limited access to education.

We have all heard about the occupation of the Poznań dormitory “Jowita” or the recent student protests against the commercial food hall in the University Library in Warsaw, which was supposed to replace the affordable academic canteen expected by students. While such protests may be perceived with misunderstanding or reluctance, they can also be evidence of the agency and civic engagement of young people who have the courage to speak out about their own needs and problems.

It is also increasingly common to see the value of a university diploma being undermined, which is partly due to the massification of higher education after the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century. However, the data show that education still remains one of the strongest factors influencing the professional future of young people. The problem is that not everyone today can afford to fully participate in higher education. Rising living costs, the housing crisis or inadequate transport infrastructure make studying an increasingly difficult choice for many people.

How does Poland compare to other European countries? What problems do young Poles face today and how does this affect their professional future? We check based on the latest reports and data on the younger generation in Europe.

How many young people work in Europe?

The work activity of young Europeans is not the same as the level of employment, since it includes both those who are in work and those who are just looking for a job. According to data from EU Youth Report around half of young people in the European Union are active in the labour market, which means that they are either working or actively seeking employment. In practice, this also shows that a significant proportion of young people remain outside the labour market, most often due to continuing education and later entering the workforce.

Despite the fact that in some universities you can already find study programs that take into account the professional activity of young people, in many fields combining work with studies still involves numerous difficulties. Even a temporary restriction of study (e.g. through dean's leave or Individual Study Organization) can be complicated and difficult to obtain. This situation should lead to a more modern and accessible design of the higher education system. Solutions are needed that will not only be an archaic reproduction of old habits, incompatible with modern reality, but a real support for people studying and working at the same time. After all, public universities in particular should care about a well-educated young generation - also one who gains work experience already in the course of their studies. However, the level of professional activity differs markedly between countries. The highest rates are recorded in Denmark, Malta, the Netherlands and Austria, where 70% to 85% of young people are economically active. In Bulgaria, Italy and Romania, on the other hand, this figure hovers around 40%. Poland is in the middle of the list - in the years 2019—2023, the percentage of active young people was just over 50%, which placed it between the countries of Central and Southern Europe. The situation remains relatively stable across the Union: between 2019 and 2023, the level of youth employment changed only slightly, by around 1.7 percentage points. In some countries, however, there are more pronounced changes. Declines were recorded in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Latvia, while the largest increases in youth employment occurred in Ireland and the Netherlands.

What completes the picture of the youth labour market is certainly the level of unemployment. In countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland, the youth unemployment rate remains below the EU average. The situation is much more difficult in southern Europe, particularly in Greece and Spain, where youth unemployment is up to twice the EU average. Interestingly, it was these countries that simultaneously recorded the greatest improvement since 2019. In most EU countries, however, youth unemployment remains relatively stable, although in some, such as Estonia and Romania, it is increasing. The European labour market for young people therefore remains clearly divided: the northern and western countries are characterised by faster entry of young people into the labour market, while in the southern part of Europe this process is much more difficult and delayed.

Which group is most at risk of exclusion from the labour market?

Although the labour market situation of young Europeans is gradually improving, not all groups have equal opportunities for employment. Data from EU Youth Report They clearly show that The greatest risk of exclusion from the labour market is linked to three factors: young age, low level of education and disability. The highest level of unemployment is for the youngest group of people aged 15-24 years. In 2023, the unemployment rate in this group was about 15%, which is almost double that of those aged 25—29. However, it is worth remembering that many young people at this age are still studying in a stationary mode and are not yet professionally active.

An important factor affecting the professional situation remains education, which should once again prompt reflection on a better adaptation of study programmes to the needs of the professionally active. Although the myth of the “uselessness of diplomas” has been popular for some time, the data show that it remains only a simplification that can further negatively affect the decisions of those who drop out of further education. In fact, the level of education still largely determines the chances of young people in the labour market. The highest level of unemployment was recorded among young people with the lowest level of education (ISCED 0-2), i.e. those with basic or lower secondary education. Unemployment in this group exceeded 18%. In comparison, among those with higher education, the rate was only about 7.6%. These data show that the level of education remains one of the most important determinants of the future position of young people in the labour market.

However, disability is an even stronger barrier. Among young people with severe disabilities, the unemployment rate also exceeds 18%, and even people with partial health restrictions are much more likely to remain unemployed than their able-bodied peers. And although today there is much talk about gender pay gap, which remains a significant problem for society as a whole, the data on young Europeans show that their level of education and health status are even more important for their professional situation. Neither gender nor age generate as big a difference in the labor market as education and disability. While unemployment among women and men aged 15-29 remains at similar levels, lower levels of education and health restrictions significantly increase the risk of occupational exclusion.

Is college not for everyone? On the difficulty of combining work with studies and economic exclusion from higher education

Paradoxically, one of the factors pushing young people away from the labour market remains education itself. Many full-time learners do not work because they focus on their studies and formally stay out of the labour market. This is why the so-called youth unemployment rate tends to be lower than the unemployment rate itself - a significant proportion of young people are simply not yet active. It is increasingly said that studying is becoming a choice available mainly to those young people whose families are able to provide them with a livelihood or at least partial financial support. The high cost of living means that higher education is less and less about intellectual development, and for many students it also becomes a struggle for economic survival.

In recent years, protests against the reduction of social infrastructure at universities, such as cheap dormitories or student canteens, have increasingly emerged. One of the louder examples was the students' protest against the new “canteen” opened in the University Library in Warsaw. Instead of an affordable space supported by a university or ministry, students were given a commercial “premium food hall” whose prices proved difficult to accept for many students. As the Warsaw Circle of OZZ Employee Initiative emphasized, “canteens should be part of the social infrastructure and offer affordable meals”.

One of the biggest problems, however, remains housing. Rising housing rental prices in Poland are increasingly preventing young people from entering adulthood on their own and undertaking studies outside their place of residence. Rental costs in the largest cities are becoming difficult to reconcile with the average earnings of young people, as well as with the amount of scholarships or salaries from casual work. In the context of the demographic crisis and the growing demand for skilled workers, this situation seems particularly worrying. Compared to some European Union countries, Poland remains one of the countries with the least available housing systems in relation to average incomes. This problem is increasingly becoming a source of social discontent and mobilization of young people. Among other things, for this reason, in 2023, students from Poznań began a protest against the sale of one of the oldest dormitories - “Jowity” - into private hands. The building, located in the city center, was occupied by students and activists of the OZZ Labor Initiative for three months. The protest was widely echoed in the public debate and led, among other things, to the declaration of the Minister of Science Dariusz Wieczorek on the allocation of funds for the renovation of the dormitory and the further functioning of the facility. During the occupation “Jowita” was also visited by important figures from the world of science and public debate, such as Prof. Przemysław Czapliński and Adam Leszczyński. The protest itself has become a symbol of a wider problem — a growing belief among young people that access to education, housing and basic social security is becoming increasingly difficult, even for those entering college and actively trying to build their future.

Students cannot always count on family support or a scholarship system, and reconciling education with work remains a major challenge. However, Eurostat data show that more and more young people are trying to combine study with work. In 2024, around 25% of Europeans aged 15-29 were working simultaneously with participation in formal education. The highest percentage of such people was recorded in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, where work during studies is much more widespread than in Southern or Central-Eastern Europe. At the other end of the list are Romania, Greece and Croatia. The data also show clear differences related to age and gender. In the 15-19 age group, the majority of young people remain outside the labour market and focus primarily on education. Between the ages of 20 and 24, the number of people combining study with work is increasing, and after the age of 25, employment becomes the dominant form of activity. At the same time, women are more likely than men to participate in formal education, but if they remain outside the education system, they tend to have less chance of employment and are more likely to remain inactive.

All these data show that the labour market for young people in Europe is not just a matter of individual competence or motivation. Career opportunities are also largely determined by social conditions - access to education, health situation and the possibility of combining study with work.

summary

Data on young Europeans show that the labour market remains highly diversified and does not give everyone an equal chance to make a stable start into adulthood. Access to education, the health situation and the social conditions that make it possible to combine study with work play a particularly important role today. It is also increasingly clear that housing problems and rising living costs make studying and building a professional future a privilege for some young people, rather than a widely available opportunity.

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