Eurofound report: young Poles and Spaniards least optimistic about EU's future

A report "Impact of COVID-19 on Young People in the EU" has been compiled by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). Its authors presented the situation of young people in Europe before the pandemic, and how it directly affected employment and education levels, their psychological condition and perception of the future.

Young citizens of all EU member states have been asked to relate to a statement "I look in the future with optimism" in three rounds - in the spring of 2020, summer of 2020, and spring in 2021.

The answers showed that the level of optimism in young people living in various EU countries was clearly correlated with consecutive waves of the pandemic, as well as imposing and lifting of restrictions. In many states, the optimism of young people was high during the first wave of the pandemic.

50% of young Poles said at the time that they looked to the future with optimism", which was slightly below the EU average. In the summer, the mood went down to 35% - with worse results only in Croatia, Cyprus, and Hungary. The third round of the research - in the spring of 2021 - showed a significant increase of optimism in nine countries, but not in Poland and Spain.

Psychologist and sociologist Doctor Joanna Heidtman commented on the report findings in TVN24. She said that "correlations aren't that obvious, but let's just say that when you examine it, the mood of young people obviously has a negative tendency". "This means there's no reason to be optimistic, which turned out to particularly visible in Poland," she said.

She underscored that there's a number of factors which determine this situation. "One of them is the pandemic, and the way the pandemic and lockdowns affected young people and working youth," she said. "Many of them lost their jobs, bacause sectors worst hit by lockdowns mostly employ young people," Joanna Heidtman said.

The psychologist also mentioned young people's difficilty with remote learning.

"Other research show that young people nowadays have much worse starting position than a few years ago. It means that in perspective, things like promotion, income level, and as a result making a living will be harder to achieve," she added.

Dr Heidtman also expressed concern that due to social, cultural, and political reasons many young people might think to themselves: "I can't do much and so my future will not look good". "And that's what I find concerning, as our future will depend on these people," she stressed.