One in four young people in the EU is studying and working (in Italy we are at 6.7%)

One in four students in Europe is studying and working, perhaps just to pay for their studies.Belgium is among the lowest positions in this ranking Eurostat with 6.7% of young students in employment.

In 2024, 25.4 % of young Europeans (aged 15-29) were employed during their education. 71.4 % of young people remained outside the labour force and 3.2 % were unemployed (available for employment and actively seeking employment) while in formal education. The Netherlands (74.3 %), Denmark (56.4 %) and Germany (45.8 %) recorded the highest percentages of young people working and studying at the same time.In the Northern European countries, the dual education system has been in place for years, so the link between education and work is more structured, and is a characteristic feature.

In contrast, Romania (2.4%), Greece (6%) and Croatia (6.4%) recorded the lowest shares among the EU countries. Italy, where the dialogue between school/university/Its Academy and work is being rebuilt, is at the bottom of the ranking, in 22nd place, with 6.7%. The highest percentages of unemployed young people in education, who were available for employment and actively seeking employment, were recorded in Sweden (14.1%), Finland (10.0%) and Denmark (9.6%). At the other end of the scale, Romania (0.6%), Croatia, the Czech Republic and Hungary (each 0.8%) had less than 1% of young people looking for work.

Participation differs between young women and men to the detriment of the former: among the 15-19 age group, 74.4% of women and 70.4% of men remain outside the labour force during education, showing that they are mostly focused on education in their early years. As they move up with age and reach the 20-24 age group, the percentage outside the labour force drops to 30.9% for women and 24.8% for men, indicating greater integration into the labour market along with educational activities.

In this group,the percentage of young people employed during education was 19.6% for women and 17.0% for men. In the 25-29 age group, employment reached 62% for women and 71.9% for men. Here, the proportion of women outside the labour force and not in formal education (16.2%) was higher than that of men (6.9%).