The acceptance of the National Youth Strategy (which occurred in 2009) is a significant step towards a comprehensive and transparent approach of youth policy. This is much more than agenda-setting, but still there is no official, unambiguous definition of youth policy in Hungary, so the priorities can change easily (though the strategy balances this). The harmonization of state policies with institutions and NGOs is still an ongoing process. The division of tasks between the local and regional levels is not clearly defined, which can lead to interpretational difficulties. Youth policy conceptions and action pans are organized and planned on a local level.

A notable portion of the youth services is done by NGOs, but a stable infrastructure of these NGOs is missing as they mostly use resources they receive through grants. Like in most of Europe, an aging society raises the known financial and social issues, which, combined with the effects of the financial crisis, make financing youth issues even harder, but the ongoing processes are still prioritized. On a press conference and lecture in the summer, the minister of public administration and justice, Mr. Tibor Navracsics, stated that the approach on youth issues will not only be handled as policy, but also as a strategic question: It should appear in all policies.

Since 2000, a research on large sample has been carried out every 4 years, covering various issues of youth. This provides very important feedback about youth policy.

The findings of Hungarian youth surveys are in line with the main trends measured in Europe. Young people form a diverse group, they become actors of the labour market and have a family later and later, they have alternate periods of working and studying and, above all, their individual life paths are much more variable than ever before. The school, the university, the workplace and the social environment no more have the same integrating role than they used to. Young people become independent later and later in life.

All this is reflected in the life feeling of youth: in the increasingly uncertain existence, the loss of confidence in current decision-making mechanism and the dissatisfaction they feel in respect of traditional forms of participation in public life or in youth organisations. Some of them feel their own problems are not addressed by the directives of public youth policy formulated by older generations. Some people seek refuge in indifference or individualism, while others opt for extreme self-expression, which may sometimes challenge the boundaries of democratism. The majority would like to influence public matters, but they have not found an appropriate way of articulation yet.