What is Youth Policy?
Definitions and realities of youth policy vary across within countries and also over time. Let’s start with a few basic elements. So what is youth policy?
Youth policy is a strategy implemented by public authorities with a view to providing young people with opportunities and experiences that support their successful integration into society and enable them to be active and responsible members of their societies, as well as agents of change. Here you can hear more about what youth policy is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd3zub--scE
The first word in “youth policy” is youth, and understanding what is meant by “youth” in different contexts will also shape what a youth policy may contain.
■There is no universal consensus on what “youth” is. Youth is socially constructed and refers to the period of complex transitions to autonomy, from childhood to adulthood. Definitions of young people vary between countries. The age range 15-29 is often selected for statistical purposes at EU level. Under the Erasmus+ programme, various opportunities are available for young people aged 13 to 30. The Council of Europe youth sector’s activities are available for young people aged 18 to 30, with justified exceptions.
■The second word in “youth policy” is policy, which is a process by which public resources are allocated to achieve political objectives. When speaking about youth policy, one needs to pay attention to what is actually meant: the process of making youth policy, its focus or the policy domains covered, or its application, how it is delivered for young people.
EU Youth Policy does everything to enable young people with opportunities and it has two main objectives:
-To provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and the job market;
-To encourage young people to actively participate in society.
Let's consider the main tasks about youth policy:
What can a youth policy do for young people? In general, youth policy addresses various and interlinked dimensions in young people’s lives: wellbeing, learning, democratic participation, and inclusion. Youth policy can offer opportunities for young people to develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes to find their place in society, to be autonomous, to play a role in civil society and the labour market. On their end, young people may experience youth policy provisions as meaningful leisure time activities associated with positive values (solidarity, group cohesion etc.), or as health promotion activities, programmes for entrepreneurship or access to youth friendly justice, etc. In one way or another, youth policy can create opportunities for young people to find a “home” within a community of values. By doing this, it can support social cohesion and the development of democratic societies.
■“Youth policy” may be seen as encompassing all policy domains affecting young people, e.g. social protection, health, housing, employment/ entrepreneurship, formal education, and so on, as well as transversal issues such as social inclusion, youth participation, gender equality etc.
■Youth policy may also be understood as addressing specifically young people, e.g. through programmes for leisure time activities, mobility, volunteering, youth work programmes, youth information, and platforms for youth participation and involvement in decision-making. In this case, youth policy possibly coordinates with the other policy domains relevant to young people.
■That is a positive vision of youth policy. But it happens to be also about regulation, surveillance, coercion, discipline and sometimes punishment. An enforced activity in return for income when a young person is unemployed or youth justice measures in custody are examples of negative youth policy.
■Youth policy may include measures or programmes for all young people as it may include measures for specific groups of young people, such as those economically vulnerable or living in rural areas.
Types of Youth Policy
Policies that target youth can be sweeping or narrow, straightforward or complex as varied as the governments that create them. Generally we can sort them into three broad categories:
-Population-based youth policies. These policies typically include a framework that articulates a desired vision for youth outcomes (i.e. youth that are healthy, socially engaged, employable, etc.) Population-based policies and strategies are universal in that they apply to the entire youth population as well as any sub-groups that make up the youth population.
-Targeted policies for sub-groups of youth. These policies focus on a single facet of youth development or a particular sub-population of youth. For example, targeted policies may focus on assisting youth in an area such as employment. They may also address the needs of particular groups at risk of social exclusion or marginalization because of race, ability, religious affiliation, or geographic location.
-Targeted policies for subgroups of youth may exist on their own or within the context of a population-based policy. Targeted policies for individual youth. These are policies designed to address personal barriers. These policies include treatment and rehabilitation programs and other such individual interventions. These policies may also exist within a broader population-based policy. https://www.slideshare.net/eurogeo/youthmetre-project-the-8-youth-policy-key-areas?ref=http://youthmetre.eu/youth-policy/
Objectives of youth policy
The purpose of youth policy is to create conditions for learning, opportunity and experience, which ensure and enable young people to develop the knowledge, skills and competences. This is in order to allow young people to be actors of democracy; integrate into society; and, in particular, enable them to play an active role in both civil society and the labour market.
The policy fosters the Organization's values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law through non-formal education, youth policy and practice. The overarching themes that inform youth policy are: human rights and democracy; living together in diverse societies; and social inclusion of young people. Follow the link to watch the video about youth policy objectives and tasks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtSnBrR3INo
The Youth Policy objectives are achieved through:
Specific youth initiatives, targeted at young people to encourage non-formal learning, participation, voluntary activities, youth work, mobility and information, ‘Mainstreaming’ cross-sector initiatives that ensure youth issues are taken into account when formulating, implementing and evaluating policies and actions in other fields with a significant impact on young people, such as education, employment or health and well-being.
Youth Policy is very important for society.
Summary
Youth policy reflects how a government or decision-makers view young people. The value framework of a youth policy is very important to consider, as it has implications at all levels, from the first steps of the process of developing it, to the measures or programmes reaching young people and the goals they reach them for. In some cases, these values and principles may guide youth policy, but in others they may be absent. In a democratic society, the principles of youth policy may include social progress, solidarity, social justice, active citizenship, social and economic integration. It creates conditions for learning, opportunity and experience, which ensure and enable young people to develop the knowledge, skills and competences.
One common definition of youth policy is that it is the sum of all the initiatives aimed at young citizens, everything that affects young people in any way. This could be the result of youth policy today being spread across many different sectors and the large number of actors in the area. Such a definition is only a summation after the event, a result of the effects of the general policy on a certain target group, and is not an expression of a conscious political will. By including everything, it also becomes a blunt instrument for analysis. How can you tell the difference between good and bad youth policy? Youth policy as a concept becomes void.