TIRANA, May 8- Young Albanians see unemployment and poverty as their main concerns, but half of them think that their problems are not addressed in the county where they live, as only 40 percent think the issues are somewhat addressed and only 4 percent think they are actually addressed. They have no faith that politics will address their concerns. This irresponsibility of governance has caused that half of the youth to remain away from the ballot boxes as a silent form of protest, together with the desire to emigrate.
These are the main results of a survey conducted by the National Network for Young People in Albania and the Children’s Rights Center (ANYN, CRCA/ECPAT). The purpose of the survey with over 1200 young people was to highlight the problems of young people in all 12 regions of the country, focusing both on local and national issues, including the role of political parties in the elections.
57 percent of the respondents answered that they did not think that the municipality in their town worked hard enough for young people, 32 percent responded the municipality works somewhat hard enough, while only 8 percent responded that the municipality does indeed work hard enough for youth-related issues.
49 percent of the surveyed think that the state budget is not enough to meet the problems of young people in Albania and only 7 percent say that it does, while the rest 44 percent responded that the budget somewhat meets the needs or not at all.
35 percent of young people think that political parties consult with them only when they have elections, while only 8 percent respond that the parties consult with them in a more everyday basis. The rest 57 percent said that the parties sometimes consult them, or never have. Only 4 percent of youth think that political parties are open to solving youth problems. Only 11 percent see the political parties responsible for solving the problems of the youth.
Lack of trust in political parties and municipalities makes young people reluctant to vote. Asked about local elections, only 50 percent said they would vote, 24 percent were undecided, 22 percent said they would not vote, and 45 percent replied they did not know. The main given cause that young people as to why they do not want to vote is that they have no faith in any political party. The other two reasons mentioned are “politics does not give me hope that things will change” and “I want to leave Albania.”
62 percent think that no political party is open to address problems and cooperate with young people, while 21 percent think it is left-wing parties that are open to addressing issues, and 12 percent named the right-wing parties. The rest 5 percent difference named the small, nationalistic, centrist, and religious focused parties.
28.5 percent of youth neither employed or in school
The educational quality of young people is unsatisfactory and announces an inauspicious prospect for the added value of long-term sustainable growth of the country. According to data from the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), in 2018 young people aged between 15-29, who were neither employed nor attending school or any professional training, constituted 28.6 percent of total youth.
In this group, 36.6 percent of young people were unemployed. From the remaining, 11.7 percent are out of the labor market because they are discouraged, 22 percent are fulfilling family responsibilities and responsibilities, and 29.6 percent named other reasons. Among young people who are neither employed, nor in school or in vocational training by gender and their status in the labor market, males are more active in the market than females. 50.4 percent of males are looking for a job and are willing to work, while in females this indicator is 25.7 percent.
Albanian youth are characterized by a high level of laziness. According to a study conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FEF) in Tirana, Albanian youth spend a daily average of 2.3 hours watching television and 3.9 hours online. But these are not the only activities. The cafes occupy a considerable part of the life of Albanian youth. According to the study published recently, half of the respondents often spend their free time attending cafes and bars, while only 21 percent said to do so occasionally. A strong factor in this issue is of course the economic status of young people, as 8 percent of youth from the economically poorest group never goes out, compared to the national average which is only 1 percent, the FEF study cites.
Gender is the main factor that determines the selection of youth activities for leisure, as males prefer to play video games, go out more often and practice sports, while girls mostly read books. Leisure time outgoings by young people is important because it shows other elements of their lives, as well as plans for their future. The most common activities that teenagers often do at leisure every day or several times a week include listening to music for which 85 percent said they do this very often, going out with friends for which 70 percent responded of doing too often, 72 percent said watching of films, and relaxation and switching time with their family accounted for 92 percent.
