FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG and SeConS published a book “Young People in Serbia 2015: Situation, Perceptions, Beliefs and Aspirations”. This study, written by Smiljka Tomanović and Dragan Stanojević, examines the civic and political perceptions as well as the individual experiences of young people in Serbia today. The study is based on empirical data collected in 2015 through interviews conducted with 1200 young people aged between 15 and 29 from all over Serbia. They were asked to provide information about all aspects of their lives, including living conditions, education, work and employment, family and leisure, trust, attitudes and beliefs, future aspirations as well as politics and EU-Accession of Serbia.

Heinz Albert Huthmacher, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Serbian office director, summarized the finding in the following manner: “young people in Serbia still face strong constraints such as inefficient education, high unemployment, financial and living dependencies and a deep feeling of exclusion from politics. And yet, their individual perception of their own future and their satisfaction with life are rather optimistic. Towards Serbia`s accession process to the EU many young people in Serbia do have their reservations, but at the same time show a very pragmatic attitude to its necessity. As all former youth studies of FES, our survey also includes recommendations to policies and decision makers in Serbia on how to improve the living conditions of young people and to show to the younger generation of today that they are much needed in order to build a better future in a country still in transition, but also one on a long road to Europe.”

The complete study in English is available on-line.