“Europe’s Lost Generation”

According to a new research, there are worries that Europe will have its own “Arab Spring” due to  youth unemployment in Europe. The study was undertaken by Eurofound that called the 14 million unemployed youth “Europe’s Lost Generation”. This, of course, could create enormous problems and agony for the future of the European Union.

According to the study that researched people aged 15-29, who are not in higher education, the so called Neets (not in employment, education or training), this group of people costs the E.U. 153 billion euros annually in benefits and lost production. This situation does not only affect the economy, but it also has negative results in the democratic participation in society. Unemployed youth are less politicised than employed citizens, whilst they also trust the politicians less and less.

According to the research, since the beginning of this economic crisis (2008) the unemployment rate has gone up to 28% within the E.U. member states.  This research shows emphatically that Europe did not have any provision in protecting its youngest members. This could and most probably will create unprecedented issues in a couple of years; however, we can state that this has already begun in the Mediterranean, specifically in the so called PIIGS.