1. Developing indicators on youth at the European level Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009 Finn Denstad, Policy Officer, Youth Policy Unit DG Education and Culture, European Commission

2. NEW EU YOUTH STRATEGY  9-year strategy with three 3-year assessment cycles  Two main objectives: –More and equal opportunities for young people in education and the labour market –promote the active citizenship, social inclusion and solidarity of all young people Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

3. NEW EU YOUTH STRATEGY  8 fields of action –Education –Employment and entrepreneurship –Health and well-being –Social inclusion –Culture and creativity –Youth participation –Volunteering –Youth in the world Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

4. NEW EU YOUTH STRATEGY  has a strong focus on evidence based youth policy  New EU Youth Report every three years  Commission to carry out studies  Facilitate exchange of experiences of good practice Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

5. NEW EU YOUTH STRATEGY  European Commission to establish a working group on indicators in the youth field, with a goal to develop a dashboard of indicators consisting of all the eight fields of action –To be established in Jan 2010 –Agree on a selection of indicators in areas where they have already been developed (education, employment, health and social inclusion) –Propose possible new indicators in areas where they do not exist (participation, volunteering, culture & creativity, youth in the world) –Submit a proposal to the Council by December 2010 Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

6. WHY EU YOUTH INDICATORS?  European indicators  National indicators  Stimulates debate and greater awareness around policy objectives  Makes it possible to measure progress/development in the different policy areas  A number of member states are currently developing indicators at national level  arena for exchange of good practices and peer-learning Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

7. EXISTING INDICATORS  Education (DG EAC) – 2003: 5 benchmarks adopted by the Council, to be achieved by 2010. 2007: The Council adopted 16 core indicators. May 2009: ET 2020 adopted by the Council, with 10 new benchmarks to be reached by 2020.  Employment (DG EMPL) – Working Group on Indicators consisting of COM and MS  endorsed by the Employment Committee Over the last few years, policy indicators have been developed in different policy fields relating to youth Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

8. EXISTING INDICATORS  Health (DG SANCO) – Subsequent Working Parties on Health Indicators (COM + MS) have developed The European Community Health Indicators (ECHI), 88 core indicators regularly updated, so far datasets are developed for 43 of them  Social Inclusion (DG EMPL) – indicators developed by a Sub-Group on Indicators established within the Social Protection Committee. Indicators used in National Reports on Common Objectives/OMC Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

9. PROPOSED YOUTH DASHBOARD  Draft proposal for a dashboard of existing indicators related to youth  Based on a selection of “primary indicators” proposed by DG EAC  Selection to be discussed in-depth in the Working Group on indicators Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

10. INDICATORS - EDUCATION  Early school leavers  Low literacy in reading, mathematics and science  Higher education graduates Latest figure: 15.2 % (2007) Latest figure: 31.1 % (2008) Latest figures: Reading 24.1 %, Math 21.2 %, Science 20.2 % (2006) Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

11. INDICATORS - EMPLOYMENT  Youth unemployment rate  Employment gender gap young people Latest figure: 20.8 % (October 2009) Latest figure: 5.8 % (2008) Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

12. INDICATORS - HEALTH  Young people who smoke tobacco regularly  Young people who are obese We have national data, but EU average not yet available Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

13. INDICATORS – SOCIAL INCLUSION  At-risk-of-poverty rate for children (  17)  At-risk-of-poverty rate for young people (18-24) Latest figure: 19 % (2007) Latest figure: 20 % (2007) Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

14. DRAFT DASHBOARD Previous yearStatusComment 1. EDUCATION 1.1. Early school-leavers 15.5 % (2005)15.2 % (2007)EU target: Less than 10 % by 2020 1.2. Low literacy in reading, mathematics and science Reading21.3 % (2000)24.1 % (2006) EU target: Less than 15 % by 2020 Math and science data for 2006 not comparable with 2000 & 2003 MathematicsN/A21.2 % (2006) ScienceN/A20.2 % (2006) 1.3. Higher education graduates(27.8 % 2005)31.1 % (2008) EU target: By 2020, the share of 30-34 year olds with tertiary educ. attainment should be at least 40%. 2. EMPLOYMENT 2.1. Youth unemployment rate (15 - 24) 15.4 % (2008)20.8 % (10/2009) 2.2. Employment gender gap young people6.1 % (2007)5.8 % (2008) 3. HEALTH 3.1. Young people (15-24) who smoke tobacco regularly EU average N/A Data collected over several years, progress can not yet be measured. EU data will be developed in the future, pooled by Eurostat 3.2. Young people who are obeseEU average N/A EU data will be developed in the future, pooled by Eurostat 4. SOCIAL INCLUSION 4.1. At-risk-of-poverty rate for children (up to age 17) 19 % (2005)19 % (2007)RO and BG not included 4.2. At-risk-of-poverty rate for young people (18-24)19 % (2005)20 % (2007)RO and BG not included Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

15. NEW INDICATORS...  What about indicators for –youth participation? –Volunteering? –Culture and creativity? –Youth in the world? Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

16. DATA FOR NEW INDICATORS... Introducing...  The European Knowledge Centre on Youth Policy –A central component of the EC-CoE partnership in the youth field –Network of national correspondents + database –Collected data on the situation of young people –Questionnaires will be revised and improved and collect data for the new indicators  Eurobarometer survey on youth 2010 (previous in 2001, 2007) Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

17. CHALLENGES (1) Erik Jan de Wilde:  Well-beingvswell-becoming  Self-reportvs other-report  Positivevsnegative measures  Data-drivenvstheory-driven  Youth-centeredvsother  Age Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

18. CHALLENGES (2)  At the EU level: How to reach consensus between 27 member states on indicators for example on youth participation? –Youth NGO memberships? –Memberships of sports clubs? –Youth participation rates in elections? –Rates of young people reading newspapers and watching the news? –Percentage of municipalities with local youth councils/parliaments? Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

19. WHAT DO YOU THINK??? Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009

20. THANK YOU! Finn.denstad@ec.europa.eu Benelux-Nordic expert meeting on child and youth indicators, Amsterdam 13-15 December 2009