The young people are not doing very well. According to data published by the French Public Health agency on October 9, “the mental health of young French people is still degraded in 2023, a constant trend since September 2020”. More than 20% of 18-24 year olds are affected by depression, twice as many as in 2017.
A worrying finding, confirmed by the major study published Wednesday October 18 by the European Youth Forum, an association bringing together around a hundred organizations representing young people in member countries, and financed by European funds. “Our data shows that Europe has made very little progress since 2011 on the rights and well-being of young people, and no progress since 2018”asserts Fabiana Maraffa, project manager at the Forum, who worked on the report.
To make this observation, the organization scrutinized around sixty social indicators (access to care, education, freedom of expression, etc.), in order to build a “youth progress index”, comparable in a hundred fifty-three countries – not just in Europe, therefore. And this has been happening for twelve years. Unsurprisingly, the Nordic countries appear at the top of the ranking, while France falls to 24e place – in 2011, she was 18e.
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But what is most interesting is the relative evolution of countries, and the clear regression recorded by some. “The progress indicator is declining in North America”, notes the report. This is due to the decline in discrimination and violence against minorities, where the satisfaction index has plunged by 35.5 points since 2011, political rights (−15 points) and academic freedom (−13.9 points). ).
“In Europe, two countries are among those that have made no progress over the last decade: the United Kingdom and France,” also details the study. Since 2011, the satisfaction of young British people has declined in terms of quality of care and the fight against discrimination. In France, satisfaction with access to housing fell by 25 points. “The housing problem is found in the majority of European countries, due to soaring rents: it is a major subject”explains Fabiana Maraffa.
Almost everywhere, the mental health of young people has deteriorated since the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the social isolation and anxiety they have experienced. “Our analysis further shows that sending children to school from an early age and equal access to education contribute to better mental well-being among young people”, explain the authors. Whereas, conversely, an increase in the unemployment rate results, unsurprisingly, in an increase in depression.
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