6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
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The m<strong>on</strong>ey and time <strong>in</strong>vested <strong>in</strong> youth activities can be traced either by<br />
exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a country’s legal provisi<strong>on</strong>s or the nati<strong>on</strong>al budgets of the<br />
m<strong>in</strong>istries dedicated to youth issues – <strong>in</strong> most cases exclusively –, or by<br />
look<strong>in</strong>g at expenditure <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual municipalities. However, neither<br />
level gives more than an <strong>in</strong>complete picture of total expenditure.<br />
The ma<strong>in</strong> fund<strong>in</strong>g sources of youth work are municipal funds as well as<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al and European funds. In Austria, public spend<strong>in</strong>g covers at least<br />
43% of total expenditure, mak<strong>in</strong>g it the ma<strong>in</strong> source of f<strong>in</strong>ance. The<br />
Netherlands are an excepti<strong>on</strong>: here, membership and participati<strong>on</strong> fees<br />
complemented by sp<strong>on</strong>sor<strong>in</strong>g funds make up the li<strong>on</strong>’s share of<br />
resources to cover the costs of activities at local level.<br />
However, municipal surveys also show that volunteers represent a<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siderable share of resources <strong>in</strong> youth work. In Greece, the survey<br />
documented a 48% proporti<strong>on</strong> of h<strong>on</strong>orary workers <strong>in</strong>volved at local<br />
level, while <strong>in</strong> all other countries for which data was available,<br />
volunteers accounted for a 75% share of resources if not significantly<br />
more.<br />
An overview presented <strong>in</strong> the study shows that the share of the budgets<br />
of youth-specific m<strong>in</strong>istries <strong>in</strong> total public expenditure ranges from a<br />
m<strong>in</strong>imum of 0.001% to a maximum of 0.04%. However, reliable<br />
<strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the total amounts of time and m<strong>on</strong>ey spent <strong>on</strong> youth<br />
activities will not be available until public spend<strong>in</strong>g at state or local level<br />
and the <strong>in</strong>volvement of volunteers can also be documented.<br />
When compared to numbers of volunteers, paid employees account for<br />
a significantly lower proporti<strong>on</strong> of youth workers: 8% <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands<br />
to a maximum of 25% <strong>in</strong> Spa<strong>in</strong>. With the excepti<strong>on</strong> of the Netherlands,<br />
where part-time c<strong>on</strong>tracts dom<strong>in</strong>ate, paid youth workers have full-time<br />
positi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> at least 60% of cases and have had at least professi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
school educati<strong>on</strong>. While the survey shows roughly equal numbers of<br />
female and male youth workers at local level <strong>in</strong> Greece, <strong>in</strong> most other<br />
countries youth work is a primarily female occupati<strong>on</strong>, with the<br />
proporti<strong>on</strong> of female workers rang<strong>in</strong>g from a m<strong>in</strong>imum of 60% to 88% <strong>in</strong><br />
Norway.<br />
8<br />
F<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs: m<strong>on</strong>ey<br />
and time <strong>in</strong>vested<br />
<strong>in</strong> youth activities<br />
(see pages 115 and 117)<br />
F<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs: the<br />
number of people<br />
employed (see page<br />
117)