President and Vice-President of the Slovenian Democratic Youth (the youth wing of the Slovenian Democratic Party – SDS) talked with our media outlet about the problems that young people face today. They believe that young people should be more strongly encouraged to start a family, should be given higher scholarships, have more internships and practical classes during their studies, and should get some help when searching for their first home. Slovenian Democratic Youth has already dealt a lot with solving the housing crisis, which, according to the Youth 2020 survey, is the most pressing problem for young people in Slovenia. “Together with the Slovenian Democratic Party parliamentary group, we are preparing a law on a housing guarantee scheme, which would provide young people and young families, who usually have low credit scores, with guarantees for obtaining a housing loan,” said President of the Slovenian Democratic Youth, Dominik Štrakl.
Recently, we published an article that listed all the things that our government has done for young people, and in this article, we are focusing on the issues that the upcoming government will have to face. We spoke with the President and Vice-President of the Slovenian Democratic Youth (Slovenska demokratska mladina – SDM), Dominik Štrakl and Andrej Hoivik.
As the first issue, we pointed out that Slovenia has one of the highest proportions of young people living at home with their parents. Hoivik sees the main solution for this problem in the systemic regulation of family policy, which has already been outlined by the current government with its measures. The most important thing to address is incentives for shaping family life, while we should also give young people the opportunity to find their first home with some help. “At the same time, more funds need to be allocated to the regional development of the country, as young people will have an easier time finding their first home in their home environment (and it will also be cheaper),” said the SDM Vice-President Hoivik.
According to the President of the SDM, Štrakl, the housing problem should also be solved by building new non-profit housing. “But we firmly believe that this is not enough,” he pointed out. Most young people would like to find their own housing, so the representatives of the SDM believe that the state should help young people and young people solve the problem of finding their first home.
A law on the housing guarantee scheme is being prepared, which will provide guarantees for getting a housing loan
In the Slovenian Democratic Youth, a lot has already been done to solve the housing problem, which, according to the Youth 2020 survey, is the most pressing problem of young people today. “Together with the Slovenian Democratic Party parliamentary group, we are preparing a law on a housing guarantee scheme, which would provide young people and young families, who usually have low credit scores, with guarantees for obtaining a housing loan,” said President of the Slovenian Democratic Youth, Dominik Štrakl. Thus, the state will help young people solve the housing problem when looking for their first apartment.
When asked what should be done to get young people to start contributing to the pension fund earlier or get a job during their years of study already, in order to fill the gap in the pension fund, which could help them retire earlier, Hoivik said that there are better solutions than young people primarily being obligated to contribute to the pension fund during their studies. “Your years of studying should primarily be dedicated to successfully completing your studies, as this is the only way to ensure that young people will enter the labour market as quickly as possible,” he emphasised.
They encourage the raising of scholarships
With this, Hoivik also believes that the state should stimulate the economy, so it can offer young people scholarships from companies. He also supports the gradual increase of state and Zois scholarships, which would enable students to successfully complete their studies on time, without any major concerns about their income. “Holes in the pension fund need to be addressed through other measures, especially in the field of demography,” he was clear.
Fewer and fewer young people are opting for a family, and according to Hoivik, family life should be valued. They believe that the right solution which would help more young people choose families is easier access to their first apartments, offering benefits in taking out housing and other loans, and additional income tax relief. According to him, employers should make sure that they provide a working environment that enables employees to have both a family and a professional life. “However, financial resources are not the main motivator for being excited about a new life – this must come with the upbringing, be taught in the education system, and be a motivation for a beautiful future that can be offered by one’s own family,” he then added.
In favour of more internships during the years of studying
The SDM also supports the policy of more internships during the time of studying, as they believe that staff who have already acquired more practical knowledge during their studies are also more employable. In order to enter the labour market, young people also have to present an authentic document on past work experience. “At the end of their years of studying, young people do not receive an appropriate certificate that could serve this purpose,” Štrakl was critical.
That is also why the SDM suggested that when a student stops working in a company, his or her employer should be obligated to issue a union form, which clearly shows the work that was performed, in accordance with the education, the number of hours that the individual spent working, and the specific work tasks that were part of the student’s work process. With such proof, young people could actually prove their previous work experience when looking for their first job, and thus they will be even more employable. “The SDM also supports the introduction of practical training or internships not only in vocational schools but also during the years of studying at the faculty,” Štrakl explained.
We need to create conditions for young people to stay in Slovenia
the Slovenian Democratic Youth has prepared a resolution entitled The Ode to Youth, which is intended for young people and was adopted at last year’s congress of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). Namely, the DM sees lots of opportunities to improve the living conditions for young people in Slovenia. They believe that we need an executive policy that wants and is able to create these conditions so that young people would be able to create their future at home. Therefore, the SDM proposed a mandatory paid internship at the end of studies as part of the diploma, which would be paid in the amount of 30 percent of the minimum wage. “We think it is right for every work experience to count,” Štrakl explained to us.
Therefore, they suggest that at the end of every student employment, the employer should be obliged to issue a uniform form, which shows the work that has been done by the student and the specific tasks that the student performed. They suggest that all young people up to the age of 26 should be entitled to pay personal income tax because they believe that this proposal would relieve young people financially at the beginning of their careers and thus give them an additional incentive and motivation to work in Slovenia.
More student dorms and government subsidies for the purchasing of property
The SDM also believes that the state should pay more attention to the construction of new student dorms when solving the housing problem because their construction and the renovation of the already-existing ones would significantly contribute to solving the housing problem. They also advocate that state subsidies should be made available for young people for the purchase and renovation of rural real estate. “Therefore, it is important to simplify the process of obtaining a housing loan and expand access to non-profit housing. This is also why we are working on the revival of the Housing Guarantee Scheme, which will be one of the steps to start solving the housing problem of young people,” Štrakl said.
In its resolution, the SDM also proposes many more measures that would help solve the situation of young people in Slovenia. At the SDM, they believe that young people today need concrete solutions, based on which they will be happy to live, work, and create new life at home – in Slovenia. “With favourable scholarships, housing and family policy, employment policy and faster regional development, we will make Slovenia attractive for young people.”
We must strive for a quality circular economy
Hoivik also believes that young people are the guarantor for the successful future of Slovenia, so the next government will have to give priority to our generation. We are on the right track, as the measures adopted during the epidemic and the health crisis were quick and effective, and they enabled us to stay in good shape. It turned out that the best socialisation of our youngest is in the school space, so the SDM sees many opportunities to improve the educational content in our education system. “We should also pay special attention to the preservation of our beautiful nature and direct all of our efforts to creating a circular economy of the highest quality. Only with the latter will we solve the key challenges that young activists are drawing attention to today, without excessive responsibility for the negative consequences,” Hoivik concluded.
Sara Rančigaj
