Minimum wage infohub but with a really really really long title

This report describes the employment and social situation of young people in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – the WB6) and also looks at employment in Türkiye.

It focuses on young people because they were particularly hard hit by COVID‐19. It disrupted the quality and quantity of their education and training, and many lost their jobs. As elsewhere, the crisis disproportionately impacted young people’s well-being in the WB6 and Türkiye.

Following a long recovery from the economic crisis (2007–2013), young people in the EU proved to be more vulnerable to the effects of the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people were more likely than older groups to experience job loss, financial insecurity and mental health problems. They reported reduced life satisfaction and mental well-being associated with the stay-at-home requirements and school closures. While governments responded quickly to the pandemic, most efforts to mitigate the effects of restrictions were temporary measures aimed at preventing job loss and keeping young people in education. This report explores the effects of the pandemic on young people, particularly in terms of their employment, well-being and trust in institutions, and assesses the various policy measures introduced to alleviate these effects.