Youth & Education

Youth & Education

Together with its partners, the PES has launched a major campaign to put young people’s issues at the top of the EU agenda: UpToYouth. This campaign builds on the PES European Youth Plan, which focused on improving the prospects of young people across Europe. We want action on young people’s priorities: climate change, tackling youth unemployment, access to quality education, healthcare for all, and decent housing.

The PES is fighting for a social Europe in which affordable access to education, jobs, culture and childcare becomes a reality for everyone, regardless of their financial means, social situation or ethnic background.

The PES has successfully fought for key socialist policies – such as the European Youth Guarantee and European Child Guarantee – to improve life for Europe’s next generation.

Our priorities for young people

  • Climate action

    The cost of climate inaction is far greater than the cost of climate action and will be terrible for future generations. We are already feeling the impacts now, in Europe and across the world. That is why we must invest in the green transition, create green jobs for young people and develop a sustainable economic model, which puts people and the planet first.

  • Quality jobs

    As we face the economic consequences of war and energy costs, young people must not be abandoned again. Young people deserve quality jobs and decent working conditions, including fair wages. The International Labour Organisation estimates that if the right policies are put in place to reach the 2°C target, these could create 24 million new jobs by 2030.

  • Access to education

    Quality education is a right for young people, a duty to society and an investment in our future. Education and training are indispensable to building cohesive and inclusive societies in which citizens can flourish, develop common understandings of our common challenges and acquire the tools to tackle them. Work remains to be done to guarantee the same quality and opportunities for all.

  • Health for all

    The right to healthcare is a priority for us. Everyone should feel safe and should receive the best care available when they fall ill, including access to mental healthcare. Access to therapy and counselling should not be constrained by income, background or geographic location. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are crucial for people’s wellbeing and are a cornerstone of gender equality.

  • Decent housing

    Housing is a human right, recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined as Principle 19 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The housing market displays evident failures, distortions and deep fragmentation due to gentrification, financialisation and touristification. 80m people in the EU are overburdened by housing costs, including many young people in all regions of Europe.

Youth & Education

UpToYouth

We want young people in the EU to have a say about their future.
That is why we created UpToYouth, to mobilise and motivate the progressive youth grassroots movement to campaign on issues that matter to them.

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Documents

More documents
  • European Year of Youth: High Time for Action!

    Declaration adopted by the PES Presidency of 24 February 2022
    View document February 24, 2022
  • The European Child Guarantee: For a fair start in life

    PES publication
    View document February 1, 2022
  • A boost for Europe’s younger generations

    Declaration adopted by the PES Presidency of 25 June 2021
    View document June 25, 2021