Social inclusion of young people is not just about employment!

This week young people experiencing poverty and representatives of NGOs, social partners, as well as national and EU institutions got together for the Youth Forum’s Workshop on ‘Youth and Poverty’, organised with the European Anti-poverty Network, in the framework of the annual ‘Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty’ held this year from 22nd-24th September.

Participants worked on a question that they chose to be asked over the next plenary session of the European Parliament: “Why are European institutions and national governments mainly talking about employment and employability?”

The European Youth Forum believes that the answer to social exclusion of young people is not only about employment, but also about giving the right to access services to young people such as housing, education and health and also to access basic information regarding their rights.

Currently, the consequences of the crisis on young people are still having a big impact. In 2012, 29.7% of young people in the EU were at risk of poverty and social exclusion. It is therefore crucial to keep poverty and social inclusion visible in the European agenda. This annual European meeting is part of the EU inclusion strategy and aims at developing direct participation of people experiencing poverty.

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Website on the Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty: http://voicesofpoverty-eu.net/