Definition of Youth
The Estonian Youth Work Act (2010) defines youth as between 7 and 26 years of age. This is the same range of age used in the 2006-2013 Youth Work Strategy.
Marriageable Age
- Opposite Sex
- Same Sex
- Without parental consent
- with parental consent
- Male
- 18
- 15
- --
Candidacy Age
- Lower House
- 21 Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union
- Upper House
- --
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union
Unicameral.
Situation of Young People
Literacy Rates
- 99.96% Male (15-24) %
- 99.97% Female (15-24) %
- Year: 2015
- Source: UNESCO
Net Enrolment Rate
Secondary School- 90.38%Male %
- 90.94% Female %
- Year: 2012
- Source: UNESCO
Situation of Young People
Tobacco Use
Consumed any smokeless or smoking tobacco product at least once 30 days prior to the survey.- 33.80% Male (13-15) %
- 27.80% Female (13-15) %
- Year: 2010
- Source: WHO
Policy & Legislation
According to the Estonian Youth Work Strategy 2006-2013, youth policy is all “coordinated and purposeful activities concerning the life of a young person”. As such, the youth work strategy integrates the general area of youth policy with the narrow area of youth work, setting goals, measures and indicators of efficiency. Indicators include the number of youth participation in councils, the accessibility of hobby education, the range and accessibility of youth information and the size of the youth research network. The Youth Work Act (2010) provides the legal basis for youth work, defined as “the creation of conditions to promote the diverse development of young persons”. It sets out which institutions are responsible for youth work, its financing and the liability of those who work with youth.
Public Institutions
(ministry, department or office) that is primarily responsible for youth?
Youth and Representation
Budget & Spending
- % of GDP
- % of gov. expenditure
Source: World Bank
Additional Background
The local government decides objectives of youth work that shall be implemented in its territory as well as determines methods for that. The Youth Work Act does not impose restrictions on possible objectives, it only provides that upon preparation of the development plan, representatives of youth associations must be included.
There is country government in each of the 15 counties and each of the county governments employs one chief expert on youth work. County governments also employ officials who, among other duties, carry out duties related to youth affairs: education and schooling, sports, cultural events, social assistance, delinquent behaviour, youth with special needs [...]
The main level of organisation of youth work is local government, which often delegates its youth work duties to the third sector by outsourcing certain services, if possible. Budgets of local governments appear amongst main sources to finance youth work. Pursuant to the Youth Work Act and the Local Governments Organisation Act, a local government is responsible for the organisation of youth work in its administrative territory [...]
In 2010, the Ministry of Education and Research has signed two international cooperation protocols with Finland and with Flemish community of Belgium. The cooperation with Finland is most extensive at the moment.
From Youth and Public Policy in Estonia (2013):Today, Estonia is described as “one of the most advanced e-societies in the world” – it is the younger part of the population who most frequently use the Internet to get information and services. In 2010, 68 percent of households had access to the internet at home. [...]
The number of deaths in the youth population has changed substantially when compared with the years 2005-2010 – deaths were highest in 2007 (242) and lowest in 2010 (133). In the youth population (5-24 years) more than half the deaths (56%)occurred in the 20-24 age group.