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International Youth Day 2022: Alternative report on the position and needs of young people in the Republic of Serbia for 2022 is published!
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On 08/12/202208/22/2022

International Youth Day, which is celebrated on August 12, is an important date for all young people. Traditionally, every year on this date, The National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) publishes an Alternative report on the position and needs of young people in the Republic of Serbia!

The National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS), as the highest independent representative body of the youth in Serbia, publishes the Alternative Report on the position and needs of the youth in the Republic of Serbia for the sixth time in a row. The Alternative report is the result of the largest research on young people in Serbia. The report is traditionally published on International Youth Day – on August 12.

The research was conducted in the period from May to July 2022. The research included a desk analysis, an online questionnaire for young people (quantitative research) and interviews (qualitative research on certain topics).

These are some of the key data obtained by KOMS:

  • 57% of young people don’t earn anything at all, while only 12% of young people earn more than RSD 80,000.
  • The Republic of Serbia allocates 0.08% of its budget for youth care.
  • Of the first 169 posts on the Instagram page of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2022, only 19 were related to young people.
  • 106 out of 145 local self-government units in Serbia do not have a Local Action Plan for youth.
  • The number of young deputies in the National Assembly is 14 out of 250 (5.6%).
  • 59% of young people support the introduction of compulsory civic education.
  • 57.8% of young people voted in the last elections, held on April 3, 2022.
  • The most common reason why young people do not vote is the belief that elections cannot change anything (21.7%).
  • 72% of young people believe that the elections in Serbia are not fair and honest.
  • 77% of young people claim that there is no politician they can trust.
  • Average values ​​indicate that young people do not trust the institutions of the Republic of Serbia.
  • 57% of young people believe that Serbia needs a strong leader and a leader that the people will follow.
  • 20% of young people believe that Serbia should be a monarchy.
  • 46% of young people have a neutral reaction to the mention of the European Union, while 36% of them have a negative and 18% a positive reaction.
  • 60% of young people believe that Serbia has not yet been admitted to the EU because it does not want to recognize Kosovo.
  • 46% of young people support the adoption of the law on same-sex unions, while 44% do not.
  • 69.6% of young people who have an account on TikTok use the app daily.
  • 19% of young people on the labor market work “on the black”, that is, without a contract.
  • 23% of unemployed youth are registered with the National Employment Service.
  • 88% of young people believe that more than RSD 80,000 is needed for a decent life in Serbia.
  • 74% of young people who completed work placements were not paid for it.
  • Only 17.5% of young people believe that measures to help start a family help young people.
  • 49% of young people want to move away from Serbia, while 40% of them do not write off this possibility.
  • The most common reason young people stay in Serbia is family and friends.
  • 30% of young people have the opportunity to travel outside of Serbia several times a year, and 38% once a year.
  • 42% of young people claim to have heard of KOMS, while 41% of them know about the Youth Act.
  • 17% of young people were exposed to sexual violence, while 40% of them were exposed to physical violence.
  • 79% of young people support the legalization of marijuana – 53% full and 26% for medical purposes.
  • 14% of young people declared that they had consumed cocaine, while 55% of them had tried marijuana.
  • 28% of young people declared that they had more than 5 sexual partners.

You can find the full report in Serbian here, and Research Summary in English here.

A visual representation of the data can be found here.

The obtained data will be of great importance for KOMS in further advocacy activities.

This publication is created within the project “Civil Society as a Force for a Change in a Serbia’ Accession Process”, which is being implemented by National Youth Council of Serbia in partnership with the Belgrade Open School and with the support of Sweden. The views and opinions of the authors presented in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinions of the partners and donors.