Slovakia

The Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 is the overarching policy document currently steering youth policy in Slovakia. The strategy highlights that more than 300 stakeholders from all over the country were involved in the two-year consultation process for its preparation.

Published on October 4, 2023
Updated on February 20, 2024

Definition of youth

The Act on Youth Work Support (No. 282/2008 Coll.) defines youth as those persons aged 30 years old or younger. The Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 has adopted this definition of youth, but with a special emphasis on the age group ranging from 13 to 30 years old.

Definition 1
0 - 30 years

Source: Act on Youth Work Support 2008

Definition 2

Voting Rights

Majority age
18 years

Source: Wikipedia Article on Majority Age (2024)

Voting age
18 years

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Criminal responsibility
15 years

Source: Age Matters Research Project

Candidacy age

Lower House
18 years
Upper House
--- (unicameral)
President
--- (tbc)

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Marriage & Gender

Without parental consent
Female
18 years
Male
18 years
With parental consent
Female
16 years
Male
16 years

Source: UNSD, UNDESA, ILGA

Is same-sex marriage legalized?
Female
Banned
Male
Banned

Source: UNSD, UNDESA, ILGA

Are other genders recognised?
Yes
compulsory medical diagnosis

Source: COE Report Gender Recognition 2022

Policy & Legislation

Is there a national youth policy?
Yes

Specific national legislation on youth has existed since 2008 with the passage of the Act on Youth Work Support (No. 282/2008 Coll.). This act regulates multiple areas within the field of youth work including: youth work support, non-formal education, funding, the accreditation of educational programmes and voluntary service. According to IUVENTA's website, the legislation was most recently amended in 2021 as a response to the needs of the youth sector.

The Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 is the overarching policy document currently steering youth policy in Slovakia. The strategy highlights that more than 300 stakeholders from all over the country were involved in the two-year consultation process for its preparation. It places particular emphasis on youth work and non-formal education in its various measures. The key areas of focus are:

  1. Young people at the heart of society and politics;
  2. Participation;
  3. Youth work and leisure time;
  4. Volunteering;
  5. Inclusion, equality and non-discrimination;
  6. Key competences;
  7. Employment;
  8. Digital transformation;
  9. Sustainability and a green future; and
  10. Healthy lifestyle and mental health.

According to the strategy, an in-depth evaluation will take place halfway through its implementation period, making it possible to revise individual tasks or propose new ones arising from the current situation and needs.

Public Institutions

Is there a governmental authority that is primarily responsible for youth?
Yes

Youth policy is coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport (MESRS). TheSlovak Youth Institute (IUVENTA), managed and financed by the ministry, is the key state agency responsible for the implementation of certain aspects of youth policy in the Slovak Republic, particularly in the area of research, youth work, youth information and activities for talented youth.

The cross-sectoral approach to youth policy is bolstered via two mechanisms: 1) the Inter-ministerial working group for state policy in the field of youth (IMGY) within MESRS, which was established to support the implementation of the Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2014-2020 and 2) the Committee for Children and Youth within the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (MLSAF). However, in spite of these efforts, the Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 notes that fragmentation in the design of strategies and rigid separation remain "significant obstacles to the implementation of strategies and inter-ministerial cooperation".

Furthermore, according to the EU Youth Wiki, more than ten public institutions (most of them other ministries) include children and youth as target groups on their agendas.

Youth & Representation

Does the country have a national youth organization or association?
Yes

The Youth Council of Slovakia (RMS), founded in 1990, is a non-profit umbrella organization comprised of 29 children's and youth organisations throughout the Slovak Republic. It advocates on behalf of children and youth without regard to their political and religious views, nationality or ethnic origin. As stated in the EU Youth Wiki, although the existence of the Youth Council is not guaranteed by legislation, is it unofficially considered the "supreme representation of youth". The Youth Council is financed from public sources and receives an annual contribution from the programmes of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport.

According to the RMS website, the main objectives of the organisation are to:

  1. Improve the quality of youth work;
  2. Represent the interests of its members via negotiation, analysis and research;
  3. Understand the needs of young people and ensure that their voices are heard.

The RMS is a full member of the European Youth Forum.

Youth work

Is youth work a formally recognised profession?
Yes

Youth work in Slovak Republic is based on theAct on Youth Work Support (No. 282/2008 Coll.)which came into force on 01 September 2008. According to this act, youth work is defined as: "mainly an educational activity, a societal activity, an informational activity and an advisory activity for youth, young leaders, youth leaders and youth workers."

According to the Country Sheet on Youth Work in Slovakia (2019), an important step towards recognition of the status of youth work was the addition of the following positions to the National Qualifications Framework (NQF): "youth worker", "methodologist of youth work" and "lecturer in youth work". Despite this progress, according to the paper, there are no universities that offer youth work as a degree program. It asserts that there is still a "lack of social, formal and political recognition of youth work and youth workers" in the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 includes measures to overcome these deficits and places particular emphasis on youth work and non-formal education in its various objectives. The strategy notes that youth work provides young people with the opportunity to acquire essential skills, helps to alleviate social exclusion, provides a bridge to education, and acts as a preventive measure against "socio-pathological phenomena" and the radicalisation of young people. It also includes several key objectives in the area of youth work, each of which are underpinned by specific implementation measures and performance indicators: improving the quality of youth work; creating conditions for safe, accessible and active leisure time for young people; ensuring targeted, transparent, sustainable and accessible funding for youth work; and increasing the involvement of young people in volunteering activities at home and abroad.

Budget & Spending

Does the national youth policy have a dedicated budget?
Unclear

The 2023 budget for the Ministry of Education, Science and Research projects total expenditures at EUR 4.03 billion (USD 4.36 billion). Of this total, the "National programme for education, training and youth" (budget line item 078) has been allocated a total of EUR 2.77 billion (USD 2.99 billion). According to the section "Overview of funding of Youth Programs" of the ministry website, this is a key line item for expenditures on youth.

According to the EU Youth Wiki, the State - through budgetary contributions of the ministry - provides yearly financial contributions to the Slovak Youth Institute (IUVENTA), which is the key state agency responsible for the implementation of certain aspects of youth policy. As outlined in the Investment Plan for the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic 2022-2027, IUVENTA has been allocated EUR 1.8 million (USD 1.9 million) in 2022, EUR 950,000 (USD 1.03 million) in 2023, and EUR 1.9 million (USD 2.06 million) in 2024.

It is unclear if the Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 has a dedicated budget.

Contextual Figures

Liberal Democracy Index
851

Source: Varieties of Democracy Indices

Youth Progress Index
82.8

Source: European Youth Forum

Economic Indicators

GDP per capita
$21782.86
Human Development Index
0.848
Gini coefficient
23.2

Source: World Bank, UNDP, Our World in Data

Additional background

From the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Youth Study, Slovakia 2021, focusing on young people in Slovakia aged 15-29:

"Young people are usually referred to as a group of people [sic] can most benefit from the Slovak membership in the European Union. The opportunity to study abroad under the same terms as domestic students or possibilities of the open labour market are, hypothetically, benefits that can be utilized more by young people than by the older generation. Their real use is reflected in the high number of Slovaks living, both permanently and temporarily, in other EU Member States [�] The percentage of university students studying abroad is, based on OECD data, almost 20%, whereby the EU average has been at 2% in the long-term (Hall et al. 2019).

Paradoxically, out of the surveyed countries, Slovakia has the lowest percentage of young people who expressed their opinion that European integration has provided the country with economic benefits (48%). Together with Lithuania, Slovakia is one of the only two countries in which less than half of young people are convinced of that.

A relatively negative perception of the European Union is also reflected in the lack of trust people express in the EU. Slovakia has the highest percentage of young people who have absolutely no trust in the EU (17%), and equally, Slovakia has the highest portion of young people who would vote for country's exit from the EU (also 17%)."

The FES Youth Study concludes that the "attitudes of young people to the European Union are rather alarming, also in the context of surrounding countries". They therefore recommend "systemic work of relevant stakeholders in the public space that will lead to a better understanding of the benefits of Slovak membership in the EU".

Sources

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