Young Romans and the future: mental health, education and housing at the centre of concerns

On the occasion of the European of Innovation for Sustainability Summit 2026, dedicated to the emerging signs of a future that is already here, a survey was conducted by EIIS in collaboration with Roma Capitale, WWF and The Jackal among young people under 35 "Future message", the results of which will be presented today on the second day of the Summit on 8-9 May at the Acquario Romano. The survey involved over 500 young Romans, invited to write letters to their 2040 selves. The results are surprising: mental health is the main concern, followed by education and housing, while technology and politics are less relevant. This study highlights a gap between the public agenda and the real anxieties of young people, offering insights for policies that are more in tune with everyday needs and for a more human and concrete vision of the future.

The first concern is not artificial intelligence. It is not politics. It is mental health, indicated by 19% of respondents as a top priority. Immediately after, paired in second place, come education and training (14%) and home (14%): not abstract topics, but the material conditions for building a life. Technology, at the centre of public debate since ChatGPT arrived on everyone's phones, is only the sixth concern, chosen by 7% of people. Politics stops at 3%. There is a clear gap between the media agenda and what people really fear.

European of Innovation for Sustainability Summit 2026

The generational differences tell a little biography of the country: Under 25, everything changes, the first concern is the climate (18%). Between 25 and 34, mental health rises to the top (22%). This is the age at which one is confronted with one's first real job and the fatigue of being in it. Above 35, home comes back on top (17%), paired with mental health. A common thread runs through all ages: the future, when it becomes a lived experience, is first and foremost a question of personal balance.

The research 'Letters to 2040' was conducted between April and early May 2026 through a campaign spread throughout the city of Rome (billboards, metro, buses and digital channels) inviting people to write a letter to their future selves via QR code. Over 500 people participated, with an average age of around 30 years. The sample is self-selected and represents a public particularly sensitive to future issues: the results should therefore be read as a qualitative snapshot of individual perceptions, rather than as a representative statistical survey of the entire population.

"19% of young Romans - comments Monica Lucarelli, Councillor for Productive Activities, Equal Opportunities and Investment Attraction of Roma Capitale - put mental health first when thinking about their future. It is a political fact, not just a sociological one. It tells us that people are asking institutions to start from real needs - not from agendas, not from trends. A summit such as this has the merit of holding the two levels together: the systemic vision, which serves to guide long-term choices, and listening to people, which serves not to lose sight of those who live those choices every day. For us in Rome,' he adds, 'this is not a theoretical exercise: it is the criterion with which we try to build policies that make sense in people's concrete lives. And with this Summit, Rome demonstrates that it knows how to do both: being part of the global comparison and remaining anchored to the real needs of the territory'