Back on doing posts, back on talking about economic empowerment.
Economic independence is crucial to several social groups but, among these, it is pivotal for young people. I have written before about how marginalized youth is nowadays, but not from a more socio-economic perspective. Statistically, in Europe, the average age at which young people leave their parental household is 26.5 years and this, in my opinion, still does not mark the age of economic independence as, in familistic societies of Southern Europe, parents and grandparents tend to support their children even after they leave their home.
Often, this phenomenon is played down in the media by depicting young people as being "lazy"; even at a European level, Southern Europeans are sometimes portrayed like that. Of course, putting the blame on young people or, like, on culture, is a much easier solution than acknowledging disparities in treatment.
Yes, because there are differences in the way States play a role at a European level, we are united in diversity, but some are more diverse than others. Similarly, we have put at the foundation of Europe human rights, which are intrinsic for everyone, but still, we see a difference in treatment by gender, social status, health status, and even age on a daily basis in Europe.
To focus on the latter: young people are given unpaid jobs, and they are treated as free labour, even when overly qualified. They are assumed to be less capable on the basis of being younger, as age is equated to efficiency in our society. As I like to challenge assumptions, I recently wondered: what if age and efficiency were two completely unrelated variables and this hypothesis was incorrect?
Of course, to prove it we have cases of brilliant people who reach important roles later in life and, I think, that overall the idea that age and experience should be admired is completely right. Indeed, as it was in Rome for example, I think that we should regard older people in our society as an inestimable source of guidance. At the same time, though it is true that being older means generally being wiser, it does not mean that every wise person is older.
Often times, we find very inspiring leaders, wise women like Greta or Malala, being extremely young and extremely wise. Usually, these people have fought difficulties in their young lives, which gave them adequate experience to become mentors for others. This type of experience, which is not related to concepts such as years of age, is what we should be looking for when assessing the maturity of a person. It is experience, in the sense of life experience, that is linked to being an efficient mentor, rather than age.
Young generations, such as Gen Z, have seen incredibly difficult times: especially in Southern Europe the financial crisis has led to a generation that, from my point of view, is definitely more mature than its age, and it is not in any way "lazy". It is important for young people to know their worth because they are often bombarded with negative messages about them and the values that they represent, like naïveté or idealism.
The only thing wrong with young people, according to me, is that they are accepting to continue this rhetoric about themselves which, if perpetrated, will be a burden to the next generations. On an economic level, not underselling their on value, by refusing unpaid roles, I think would not only speed up the path to economic independence for many young people but also create a snowball effect on the topic of the economic empowerment of the youth, especially in Southern Europe.
Love,
Elena
Resources: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?oldid=494351
Comments