What you need to know about young people

Two numbers stand out when trying to understand and contemplate the situation of young people living in Turkey today.

The first number is:

Seven (7).

According to TurkStat statistics, this means that 1 in every 7 people is a young person. In other words, there are approximately 12.8 million young people aged 15–24 living in Turkey. At first glance, this may seem like a strong demographic advantage. We might assume, as is often stated, that a high concentration of young people creates an economic advantage. The energy, productive capacity, and transformative power of society are largely expected to come from young people. However, what truly matters is not the sheer size of the population but how young people are striving to exist within society.

This is where the second number comes into play.

Five (5).

This number relates to youth employment—or rather, the lack thereof. According to the “Youth in Statistics” report by TurkStat (2024), one in five young people in Turkey is neither in education nor employment (NEET). This is not merely an economic statistic; it is also a vulnerable area that erodes a sense of belonging. When viewed by gender, this figure rises to 30.1% among young women.

Habitat Association has published the “Report on the Well-Being of Youth in Turkey,” prepared to better understand young people’s living conditions, expectations, and well-being.

These findings, derived from face-to-face interviews conducted between October 9–24, 2025, with 1,403 young people aged 18–29 across 33 provinces, require careful consideration. Fifty-two percent of the young people surveyed are not working. Most importantly, even university graduates are unemployed. Among those who are employed, 60% are dissatisfied with their financial situation. Nearly all young people are living below the income they need.

University students clearly state that they need an income at the minimum wage level. Most students feel compelled to work. However, working while studying turns education into an endless shift. Many young people who want to work report that they cannot find part-time employment, and those who do find it say that opportunities for growth are limited. Housing and food expenses constitute a significant financial burden[1].

Young people losing hope

Due to cost constraints on social life, the young population primarily spends time at coffee shops/cafés (59%) and shopping malls (37%).

The number of those able to attend the theater or a concert remains at very low levels, just 2–4%. They are able to meet most of their socialization and cultural participation needs primarily through free or low-cost venues. For young people who cannot access any socio-cultural activities that allow them to express themselves, social media creates the effect of a free travel ticket. 95.7% of young people use social media, and the average daily usage time reaches five hours.

When you stack the findings of this study one on top of the other, the “technological escape” doesn’t come as a surprise. Another result the study highlights is the psychological burden on young people: About one in five reports suffering from insomnia or feeling exhausted. More importantly, 19% say, “I am unhappy.” We are talking about a generation that feels unhappy during the most carefree period of life. Economic uncertainty and debt conditions are directly increasing psychological pressure.

Interviews conducted by the Istanbul Planning Agency with young people reveal that the primary cause of anxiety is the barriers to accessing quality jobs—seen as the first step toward entering the workforce. Young people say that during the job search process they began with hope, they have lost their expectations of merit-based opportunities and, moreover, have lost their belief that they can find a job. Finding a job is turning into a source of uncertainty rather than an expectation, making it difficult for young people to make plans for the future. As a result, the percentage of young people who have lost hope is steadily increasing.

Disconnection from Life

The most unfortunate consequence of this fragility regarding life satisfaction and future expectations is the rising rate of youth suicide. This is precisely the issue we need to discuss most in Turkey.

Indeed, the suicide rate among those aged 15–39 stands at 7.38. Experts studying this issue cite “poverty and a lack of future prospects; hopelessness and helplessness regarding the resolution of problems” as primary causes of the significant rise in suicide rates in recent years.[2] While every suicide case has its own unique dynamics, rather than viewing this increase in isolation, we must examine the impact created by the socio-economic conditions we currently face.

As sociologist Émile Durkheim noted in his 1897 classic work "Suicide", suicide is not merely an individual act but a phenomenon produced by social conditions.

Durkheim explains the individual’s detachment from values and norms during periods marked by economic crises, rapid social change, and uncertainty about the future through the concept of “anomie.”

He argues that the most tragic manifestation of this disconnection is anomic suicide. When society experiences economic crises or sudden structural transformations, or when the society’s regulatory power weakens, the individual becomes unable to know what to hope for or what to reasonably expect; the gap between desires and possibilities widens, and life loses its meaning. The rise in suicide rates among young age groups observed in Turkey today must be understood precisely within this framework: concerns about making ends meet, unemployment, the inability to secure a future despite education, and the erosion of a sense of justice and meritocracy point to a collective picture of anomie in which young people find themselves.

A study on youth life satisfaction conducted in European Union member states generally confirms the pattern that youth is the happiest age group. This study evaluates eight different categories, including material living conditions, employment, education, leisure time, and relationships. In this table, where the European average is 7.6/10, young people in Turkey score 5.6/10, placing them below the average. [3]

All these diverse research findings provide a robust framework for understanding the situation of the young people we work with, create alongside, and encounter in various aspects of life during this period.

The generational issue facing young people in Turkey is not a temporary phenomenon but a structural problem. From the perspective of institutions, data should not be viewed merely as an observation but should also be taken as a call to action.

Developing comprehensive approaches that involve young people in decision-making processes, create inclusive employment opportunities, support their physical and psychological well-being, and expand their learning and development opportunities is now a critical need. As the Icelandic Mode[4] shows us, today’s “happy youth” did not arrive at this position by chance but reached it through conscious policy design.

Iceland, which was grappling with issues such as high rates of substance abuse, depression, and youth involvement in crime, began by first identifying the problem. It developed inclusive policies starting at the local level to support young people’s self-development. A strong social support network and quality educational opportunities ensure that young people feel safe and happy. It offers extensive opportunities for individual development. And the result is the world’s most peaceful country[5].

Could the Youth Employment Initiative be a solution?

In Turkey, as this article is being written, the Youth Employment Initiative project draft is expected to become law. This project, which aims to encourage young people to enter the workforce, targets young people aged 18–25 who are not enrolled in any university. The salaries of the hired young people will be covered directly by the state for six months. In addition to the salary support, employers will receive social security contribution support for 18 months.

Under this framework, businesses that hire eligible young people will receive salary and contribution support through the Unemployment Insurance Fund. However, it is noted that these supports will only apply to private-sector workplaces operating in the manufacturing sector. At first glance, this project raises doubts as to whether its true aim is to support young people or to support capital investments in the manufacturing industry. While Iceland’s program offers a data-driven infrastructure accessible to everyone with a youth-focused scope, this project has prioritized capital investment.

In the program, where it is unclear whether university-educated young people are included in the scope[6], the employer is provided with a worker at zero cost for a clear 24-month period. In this context, the young person is likely to receive only the minimum wage. Furthermore, the employer’s obligation to retain the worker is unclear.

Thus, we can reasonably assume that the young person’s job will likely end once the support ends. The fact that it covers only the manufacturing sector also presents a perspective that is out of touch with Turkish reality. (ÖB/EMK/VK)