The other burden of Cypriot reality
Source: in-cyprus.com
The question stands raw and unforgiving: is the interest shown in our young people genuinely sincere from all those who rush at every opportunity to display excessive sensitivity to their plight?
Especially from those who either occupy the highest offices or lurk in decision-making centres, shaping and determining policies?
How honest are these people when they pompously spout all those grandiose declarations – so cheaply made and received – about the future of our youth?
The findings of the European Social Survey (ESS) 2023/24, released recently, sound like a wake-up call. They offer just one glimpse of a rather different reality.
The survey, which measures happiness levels among young people, places Cypriots aged 15 to 34 dead last among 24 countries, with the lowest score: a mere 7 out of 10.
Another dubious achievement for today’s Cyprus, with an increasingly uncertain tomorrow…
The Triple Dead-End
This dismal score doesn’t merely represent a statistic but an unbearable burden of social and economic hardships experienced by the younger generation and, by extension, the immense anxiety that grips them. The concerns of Cypriot youth revolve around three central axes:
Housing: The housing crisis has now reached explosive proportions.
Job insecurity: Despite their often impressive academic achievements, young people face a genuine nightmare. They endure near-starvation wages that don’t cover even the most basic cost of living.
Meagre opportunities: Young people report feeling trapped in a system of limited professional advancement. Unlike countries at the top of the happiness index (such as Croatia, Austria and Slovenia), which are characterised by social cohesion and career stability, Cyprus – as a political and social system – seems content with other achievements, inextricably linked to incurable mindsets.
The results concerning Cyprus, along with those of Greece (7.2) and Italy (7.4), testify that countries with serious socioeconomic problems see their youth feeling less satisfied with life, and consequently, feelings of disappointment and pessimism bid higher among them – with all that implies.
The ESS research could serve as an opportunity to wake from our slumber.
Addressing the housing crisis, ensuring dignified wages, and creating clear paths for career development aren’t policies of verbose rhetoric and impressions, but issues of social cohesion and long-term national perspective.
For our young people to truly represent the future of this land, as we like to imagine them, we need to travel great distances. And above all, develop the ability to act more and prattle less…
The original article: belongs to in-cyprus.com .
