Survey: young Europeans prioritise fight against child labour and Fair Trade

In the wake of the European Youth Event the European Parliament (EP) carried out an opinion survey “European Youth in 2014” in order to investigate young Europeans´ ideas on the five topics debated within the event.

Fair Trade was also included in the focus, as part of the “European shared values”. In particular, it was set as one of the priorities the European Union should cover in the framework of its relations with emerging and developing countries. According to the 45% of the responders, fighting child labour is the first objective to promote, followed by ensuring the access to health care and maintaining peace (42 and 37%)*. Then comes Fair Trade, gaining the 28% of the interviewed recognising the need of its promotion, followed closely by the international development of social standards and labour law (24%). The highest rate is registered in the Netherlands (39%), ahead of Ireland and Latvia (both 37%). The fewest answers are given in Greece (11%), Malta (13%) and Romania (15%). Fair Trade is also the third most frequently mentioned in the United Kingdom (36%), Lithuania (35%) and Spain (34%). Male interviewees are most committed (30% versus 26%). Education plays its role too, as people who carried on their studies after 20 or still studying (30 and 29%) places Fair Trade as a EU priority in relation with emerging and development countries, while the amount considerably decreases for people who left school earlier (only 16% of the people who finished before age 15). The respondents´ occupation scale does not seem to be a key element, as 30% of both employed as well as self-employed give Fair Trade as an answer, and no significant difference was highlighted with manual workers (24%) and unemployed (27%).

Interviewing 13,437 Europeans aged between 16 and 30 years old, the survey came up with a positive main result: seven responders out of ten consider their EU membership as a strength within the context of globalisation.

* The interviewees had two votes in this question.