Young People in the XXI Century

Young people are the main source of dynamism in all societies. Their decreasing share of total population and the growing delay in their entering the professional and adult societal life have characterized in the late XX century the Italian as well as the overall European community context. Actually young people in Italy account for less than 24% of total population (the lowest percentage in the European Community) and it’s going to fall down to 19% by the 2050. On the contrary, American young population is going to raise for the next 40 years although its proportion of total population will gradually decrease. The gap between Europe and America for this age group can be widely attributed to migration. It is easy to note it both in the trend of the sex ratio and in relation to the birth cohorts of origin. Provisional data suggest a different path for the three geographical contexts in the next 20 years towards the common target of 114/115 15-34years old per 100 births. Further arguments focus on the timing of, and difficulties experienced in, leaving the parental home by young people: gaining independence from the family of origin is a crucial step of a person’s life cycle, involving both concrete and symbolic aspects of the transition to adulthood. The age of young Italians when leaving the parental household can be considered high (about 31 for men and 29 for women) compared to all the other European countries. Moreover, the trend observed in the last 6 years indicates a significant age increment, especially for the male population. The reasons can be found in a combination of cultural and financial constraints. As for the cultural factor a typical one has to be considered, the tendency to combine the detachment from the parental household with the beginning of the cohabitation with a partner and, frequently, with marriage. Some financial issues can be found in access to the labor market, occupational instability, housing affordability and inadequacy of public support for students and the unemployed. However, the tendency to postpone choices perceived as critical and binding derives not only from necessities, but it is also prompted by a logic of convenience. Finally, in order to check out the prevailing values underpinning the young population, which are particularly important because they strictly relate to their life expectations and representations, social and cultural involvement and, therefore, the future prospects and potential of societies, a comparison between the average EU27 and the Italian rankings has been carried out. Human rights (46,9%), peace (41,5%) and respect for human life (39,2%) are the three main personal values for the Europeans; the rule of the law (38,3%), respect for human life (38,2%) and human rights (35,8%) for the Italians. With reference to the values more representative of the EU, the top 3 ranking are more similar: human rights (40% EU and 31,6% IT), democracy (38% EU and 26% IT) and, in third position, peace for the Europeans (31,7%) and the rule of law for the Italians (25,9%).