Crises threaten young people’s mental stability, new study by Klaus Hurrelmann shows

On 21 November, Hertie School Senior Professor of Public Health and Education Klaus Hurrelmann launched the fifth edition of the study “Youth in Germany”. Together with co-author Simon Schnetzer, both youth experts provide an overview of the impact of current crises on the well-being of young people between the ages of 14 and 29 years. The study was covered widely across German news media, including in Tagesschau, ZEIT ONLINE, SPIEGEL, Deutschlandfunk, WDR, NDR, Welt and t-online.

"A frightening number of young people report stress, listlessness and exhaustion, depression and self-doubt," Hurrelmann said in Tagesspiegel. “The fears have now become so entrenched in a large minority that it threatens their mental stability." The impact of the war in Ukraine, high inflation, rising energy prices and COVID-19 are affecting young people, the study finds.

In contrast to the results of the study’s previous editions, high income was a more important consideration among young people than before. “For about a year, we have been seeing that young people are finding financial compensation for their work increasingly important,” Hurrelmann said to Tagesschau.
 

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