Generation Austerity: When governments cut budgets young people suffer. Don't do it again.

Austerity policies taken in the early 2010s by various governments under EU pressure have affected multiple areas in the lives of young people. Widespread cuts in public spending on essential things like education, social security, or basic public services deepened existing inequalities and imbalances within society.

This report explores the specific ways in which young people were affected by these measures, looking at the case study of Spain.

As our societies slowly recover from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European rules that led to austerity policies in the 2010s are threatening to make a comeback. This report focuses on the impacts of the ‘first wave’ of austerity measures, in an attempt to warn of the dire consequences of a ‘second wave’ of austerity on young people in Europe.