Earlier this week, Eurofound -the European agency assisting in the development of social, employment and work-related policies- released its report on the inequalities young people face in accessing information and support services. The report includes policy recommendations and pointers for service providers, policymakers and EU officials.

The report highlights how young people face challenging transitions to adulthood as a result of parents’ expectations, peer pressure and school-related stress. While support services help to mitigate these challenges, the report reveals that the ease of access to those services varies across Europe.

One important finding is that mental well-being affects many young people in Europe: in 2016, 14% of Europeans were at risk of depression. It was also found that youth coming from low-income households generally face a higher risk of experiencing mental health problems. Considerable inequalities persist in the access of healthcare across member states, which is critical in addressing the burdens young people face.

Eurodiaconia shares the need to guarantee young people access to information and support services. Eurodiaconia’s members provide a wide range of child-related services such as family support centres, children’s homes, youth work services, after-school programmes, child protection, counselling and many other.

Against this context, from 09-10 October 2019, our Urban Areas Network Meeting will be hosted by Eurodiaconia’s member The Church City Mission in Oslo. The two-day event will focus on the challenges of social exclusion in urban areas of young people and the prevention of radicalisation leading to violence. For more information please contact our Policy and Membership Development Officer Stefan Kitzmann at stefan.kitzmann@eurodiaconia.org.

 

To know more about Eurofound’s report, please read the full publication.

To know more about Eurodiaconia’s upcoming event on urban areas, please have a look at our event page.