YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

Key findings of The Youth 2020 study  345 of intergenerational cooperation is also clearly demonstrated by the fact that young people still rely most heavily on their parents in their social support networks. The proportion of young people who get on very well with their parents, has even increased significantly over the last decade. Nevertheless, there aremajor shifts in the relationshipwith parents, main- ly reflecting a growing individualism or tendency towards autonomy among young people. Although a large majority still rely on their parents for help in key areas of life, these expectations have decreased significantly since 2010. There has also been a slight increase in the proportion of young people describing their relationship with their parents as poor or unbear- able. In particular, a key finding in this context is that young people are moving away from their parents at a significantly faster rate compared to 2010, and in this sense are rapidly approaching the EU average for young people. These trends can certainly be linked to the individualisation trends observed at the level of young people’s underlying values and attitudes. In addition, young people’s improving economic situation and the related improved labour market position have also had a significant impact. The data shows that young people are leaving formal education at a slightly faster rate; while 49% of young people were enrolled in higher education in 2014, by 2018 this had fallen to 45%. It is worth pointing out that this is still by far the highest in the EU as a whole, andwell above the average for all (28) Member States of 32%. This mass participation in ter- tiary education may bode well for Slovenia’s future development, espe- cially in light of the fact that higher education is being internationalised. Compared to 2010, there has been a significant increase in the share of young people who have experienced learning mobility and in the share of young people who still intend to go abroad to gain knowledge. As re- gards the lower levels of education, it is also worth noting that interna- tional surveys measuring educational achievement show a relatively high level of quality in the Slovenian education system. In line with ex- pectations, the use of non-formal education and informal learning is growing strongly among young people and it is likely to be one of the key areas of future development in education policy.