The Professor of Public Health and Education discusses how recent crises have affected youth.
The pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation, the looming climate crisis – young people have had a lot to worry about. In an article titled “Mehr Geld oder mehr Glück?” in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Hertie School Professor of Public Health and Education Klaus Hurrelmann argues that these crises have had dramatic effects on young people. The FAZ article cited a study Hurrelmann conducted with Simon Schnetzer on how the wellbeing of 14- to 19-year-olds changed between May 2022 and November 2022. According to the study, those surveyed increasingly worried about their financial situation. “There hasn’t been such a burdened young generation in a long time,” says Hurrelmann. “They are under psychological stress because they see that their living conditions could get a lot worse."
Yet these economic concerns do not mean that more young people will start seeking work in high-paying sectors. “Many young people have a natural aversion to burnout,” says Hurrelmann. In his view, this generation is much less willing than previous ones to sacrifice their wellbeing for their career.