International youth day

Young people in Slovenia are generally satisfied with their lives as a whole

In 2013, young people (aged 16–29) in Slovenia were generally more satisfied with their lives (average self-assessment: 7.6) than the whole population (7.0).

  • 5 August 2015 at 10:30
  • |
  • no status
For 16 years August 12 has been the day dedicated to young people all over the world. In December 1999 the United Nations declared this day International Youth Day, with the aim to discuss each year different issues affecting young people, highlighting their important role in society in general.

Who are young people?

From when to when a person is young is very relative and can be different for everyone. However, every society has adopted an “official” definition who is young. The United Nations determines the young as people aged 15-24, while the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth and the Employment Service of Slovenia determine the young as people aged 15-29.

The data used in this release have been obtained by the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) in 2013. They relate mainly to the age group 16 to 29 years and when compared to European youth the age group 16 to 24 years.

At the end of 2013 there were 345,292 young people (15-29 years) or 16.8% of the total population of Slovenia. At the end of 2014, the number of young people in this age group decreased by 9,793, or approximately by as much as the population of settlement Postojna.

Young people generally satisfied with their lives

In 2013, 80% of young people were generally satisfied with their lives taken as a whole. This means that they assessed their lives with assessments from 7 to 10 (on the scale from 0 – Not at all satisfied to 10 - Completely satisfied). 5% of young people assessed their lives with the lowest assessment, from 0 to 4.

The average self-assessment of overall life satisfaction was higher in young women (7.7) than young men (7.4). The average assessment of overall life satisfaction of young people was 7.6, which is higher than the average assessment of all people aged 16 and over (7.0). Higher self-assessment of their satisfaction with life taken as a whole was given by pupils, students (8.0) and those young people with tertiary education (7.8).

The EU-SILC is carried out by all EU Member States and some other countries, so the data are internationally comparable for the age group of young people from 16 to 24 years. Young people in Slovenia were on average more satisfied with their lives taken as a whole (7.8) than the average European (EU-28) youth (7.6). The lowest level of satisfaction was expressed by young people in Bulgaria (5.8) and Serbia (6.1), and the highest in Austria (8.4), and in Iceland and Finland (8.2).

Infographics 1: Self-assessment of overall life satisfaction of young people aged 16-29 years (% and average), Slovenia, 2013


Source: SURS


Young people very satisfied with personal relationships, less trust in society in general

The average self-assessment of satisfaction with personal relationships with relatives, friends, colleagues, etc., was for young people (16-29 years) 8.5, which is the highest assessment of all measurements of satisfaction in this survey. 90% of young people assessed satisfaction with personal relationships with assessments from 7 to 10. It is interesting that young people in 2013 gave much lower assessments of their trust to people in society in general, known and unknown people (average self-assessment: 6.5). 10% of young people assessed trust in others with the lowest assessment (from 0 to 4), and 56% of young people with assessments 7 to 10 (on the scale from 0 – You do not trust any other person to 10 – Most people can be trusted).

Young people’s trust in social systems low

Young people (16-29 years) assessed trust in social systems very low. In 2013, they assessed trust in the police by an average assessment of 5.4 (on the scale from 0 - Not trust at all to 10 - Complete trust).
Even lower was the average assessment of trust in the legal system (3.2); only 9% of young people assessed trust in the legal system with assessments from 7 to 10.
Young people assessed trust in the political system the worst, by an average assessment of 2.0. 80% of young people assessed trust in the political system with the lowest assessments from 0 to 4, and only 4% with assessments from 7 to 10. These questions are of general nature and refer to the respondent’s opinion/feeling. Therefore, such answers can be very dependent on the current social climate, which can change rapidly.

I am part of the 79.8% of young people (16-29 years) who still live with their parents

This is only one of the possible answers that young people can get by answering the "Young Europeans" quiz. "Young Europeans" is a new tool by Eurostat, which is primarily designed for young people aged 16 -29 and provides the possibility to compare themselves with other young people of the same age (five-year age groups) in their own country and other EU Member States in four different areas: me and my family, me and my work, me and my free time and studies, and me and the internet.
When making use of the data and information of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, always add: "Source: SURS". More: Copyright.