Over half of young adults in Europe want to move abroad to work

More EU youth choosing to work abroad

More than half of young adults in Europe are willing or would like to live abroad with Iceland having the largest number destined to become expats, a new research report shows.

Some 53% said they would consider leaving their home country for work of which 28% said it would be for a limited amount of time and 25% for a longer period of time, according to the latest Youth on the Move report commissioned by the European Union.

Respondents in Iceland (84%), followed by those in Sweden (76%), Bulgaria (74%), Romania (73%) and Finland (71%), were the most likely to want to work abroad.

This proportion decreased to 28% in Turkey; in Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium, less than half of respondents would be willing to work elsewhere in Europe.

Those willing to work in another European country were more likely to be male, some 56% compared to 49% of women, and young, some 63% of 15 to 19 year olds compared with 42% of 30 to 35 year-olds, the research shows.

They are also more likely to still be in education, some 66%, compares with 45% of those who had completed their education and more likely to be living in metropolitan areas, some 62% compared with 51% in urban and rural areas.

Looking only at respondents who had completed their education, the higher the level of education they reached, the more likely they were to be willing to work abroad, 55% of respondents with a higher education qualification, compared to 33% of those with a lower secondary level qualification.

The main reasons for wanting to work abroad included improved academic knowledge, improved foreign language skills and awareness of another culture.

The survey was conducted with young people aged 15 to 35 from each country living in the 27 European Union states plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey.

It also found that about three quarters, 76%, thought that higher education was an attractive option for young people in their country. The highest proportions of young people who expressed this view were seen in Turkey, Slovakia, Norway, Iceland and Denmark (88% to 91%). In Greece, France, Lithuania and Italy, on the other hand, between 32% and 38% said that higher education was not an attractive option.

A slim majority, 53%, said that young people went into higher education mainly to improve their job opportunities; this was also the most frequently selected reason for going into vocational education and training.

Roughly equal shares thought that young people chose this type of studies to obtain a higher level qualification or a higher wage level, some 45% 46%. Other reasons were being interested in specific subjects or disciplines, selected by 23%, and improving one’s opportunities to set up a business, 19%.

Improving one’s job opportunities was the most frequently mentioned reason in about half of the countries surveyed. For example, 69% of respondents in the UK and 74% in Ireland thought that this was a main reason for young people to go into higher education; moreover, these proportions were considerably higher than those for the second and third most frequently mentioned reasons.

In a similar number of countries, the largest proportion of respondents selected obtaining higher wage levels as the most or second most important reason to go into higher education. For example, this reason appeared in first position in Bulgaria, 54%, Cyprus, 58%, Poland 61%, Estonia 62%, Hungary 65%, the Czech Republic and Croatia both 66%. In the remaining three countries, obtaining a higher level of qualification was the most popular reason; this was the case in Austria 47%, Germany 52% and Turkey 56%.

Related Posts

1. Over half of young workers in the UK considering move abroad for work, study shows
2. Young people considering move abroad because of lack of jobs
3. Young people most likely to want to move abroad, poll shows
4. UK is worst place in Europe to live and over 12% want to move abroad, poll shows
5. Young people leave the UK to work abroad in order to have better lives, survey reveals

Tagged as: Europe, expats, Iceland, work abroad, youth