Romanian Students and Politics
More concerningly, since 2006, the majority of OECD nations have seen a decline in young people's faith in the government. Young people are driving social movements at the same time and show a significant agency in tackling global issues including climate change, economic inequality, and threats to democratic institutions.
The rise of new digital tools and innovations, as well as fresh dangers to civic space, are tapped into and accompanied by new forms of young involvement. OECD nations need to improve the connections between youth and public institutions in many ways.
In Romania, things are no different, there is a general perception among about 2 out of 3 young people aged 15-29 that Romania is going in the wrong direction, coupled with a total or partial lack of trust in Parliament and Government among the same percentage of young people. We are thus witnessing a dilution of the social contract and a strong rift between young people and political representatives.
This is happening due to many factors such as low incomes and incomplete education of young people in universities.
If we look on the job market offer of youngsters, 1 in 3 young Romanians between 20 and 29 years old are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the European Commission, the median hourly wage of young people under 30 in Romania is three times below the EU average. European Union (€3.52 vs. €11.08). Moreover, only 37% of Romanian youngsters between 18-29 years earn monthly over 3000 Ron (approximately 600 euros). Another problem is the housing market disconnected from wage policy. There are no regulations regarding ceiling prices, and that is why in the big cities it is almost impossible to buy housing without a bank loan.
Regarding education, there is not a reformed educational system. Changes have been made over the years, but there are not enough. There is necessary a great attention and solution for preventing early school leaving and easing access to higher education. It is also a problem of the education system in Romania, which does not teach you how the labor market works in general, how social systems work in a democracy and what it means to be an active citizen. This is why, in the last elections in 2020, the youth voter turnout was only 25%, the lowest in the last 4 years.
In general society, when asked, the majority of people are blaming the youth,” they don`t work enough” ,” they don`t study enough” they don`t go to vote”. But is that true? What about the politicians? Do the youth have any support from them and from the current governance?
From a demographic point of view, we find that the resident population of Romania is an accelerated ageing process. According to data published by the Statistics (Tempo/POP109A), the average age of the resident population in Romania increased by 1.5 years between 2012 and 2020, more accelerated in urban areas (40.4 in 2012 vs. 42.3 in 2020) than in rural areas (41.1 vs. 42.4). So, this means that the main focus in the eyes of the politicians are the older generations. They try to fullfill their needs, wants and demands.
In this picture, the youth is slightly ignored, politicians are not willing and interested to invite the younger generations to take on stand and to hear them. They are not interested to meet the younger generation, to go to education centers, to universities to hear them, their needs and demands.
An ideal situation would be the connection between them and the youth generations. This would mean committed and youth-oriented communication and besides that, youth strategies based on the needs of the actual generations.
In conclusion, I believe that the political environment and the democratic institutions of state government must turn their eyes towards young people, integrating their priorities and needs into political or government programmes.
Editor: Theodora Sandu
Sources of documentation:
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/migration https://uniunea-studentilor.ro/rezolutie-csr/ PODCAST. De ce-ar pleca, de ce-ar mai sta. SUNT TINERII O PRADĂ UȘOARĂ PENTRU POPULIȘTI? https://cdn.g4media.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Provocarile-tinerilor-din-Romania.-Analiza-si-recomandari..pdf