Among young, 80% are generally satisfied with their lives (source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, 2015). On average, young people in Slovenia are more satisfied with their lives (7.8) than young people in Europe (source: The Young People in Slovenia (Mladi v Sloveniji) bulletin, published by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia). Thus, regardless of economic trends in recent years, young people in Slovenia remain optimistic about their personal future. Nevertheless, there is increased concern related to lack of money, housing issues and employment uncertainty. These are the essential challenges of today for young people in Slovenia.

Today, youth are an important development resource of humanity and an essential source of innovation and positive changes in society. Unfortunately, many factors prevent this potential from being harnessed, as young people are still insufficiently recognised and largely neglected in the majority of countries worldwide. This is why Slovenia has long been striving to create conditions for better inclusion of young people in decision-making processes, as this is one of the key conditions for the development of society.  In Slovenia, young people are, in many ways, included in searching for solutions that concern them directly and those that concern society as a whole. Particularly standing out after 2001 is a structured dialogue through which young people discuss essential issues that concern their existence and status in society with decision-makers at the local, regional and national levels. Furthermore, voluntary work, student work and youth work are the most important forms of participation by young people in the Slovenian labour market. 

Among forms of participation, young people in Slovenia most commonly participate in voluntary activities (35.7%), which represent a central mechanism of social inclusion of young people and results in more than a hundred thousand young volunteers annually. Voluntary activities of young people are predominantly related to safety and tidiness of their place of residence and to the interests of youth in their local environments. This indicates that young people in Slovenia have a highly developed sense of social justice and solidarity, which can largely be proved by the expressed willingness to help people in distress in the event of natural disasters or other forms of help for the public benefit. This form of solidarity is usually performed through membership in youth organisations (scouts, young fire-fighters) or through participation of young people in civil protection or the military. Apart from this, young people are most frequently members of organisations in the fields of sports, recreation and culture, while their membership in political parties is considerably lower. An indispensable role in these fields is again played by youth organisations that, through various forms of training, enable young people to influence society, helping them achieve economic and social independence, thus contributing to the development of the country, while all of the skills acquired by young people in youth organisations are preserved and can be used when they are older. Through their participation in decision-making processes during childhood and early youth, young people develop an understanding of public (political) decision-making. Since independence, Slovenia recognises the importance of young people through educating them to become responsible citizens and encouraging their autonomy by acquiring competences for independent life. 

The recent generations of young people in Slovenia are considered to be the most educated generations since independence and knowledge of foreign languages is on the increase. Generally, young people show a great desire to be autonomous, to assume responsible and demanding tasks and to make decisions. Since independence, young people have become increasingly mobile, not only in terms of classical modes of travel but particularly in terms of participation in numerous international activities and exchanges  that include international research camps and similar activities carried out by numerous youth organisations, among which the Erasmus+ Youth in Action programme stands out most notably. 

Social and Economic changes that occurred in Europe and within it Slovenia during the transition reshaped Slovenian society and markedly affected the status and development of young people. Today, young people value individual needs more than collective rights; they see their personal success and career success as most important, as these are what ensure them the desired quality of life. Young people in Slovenia are faced with a variety of problems and various forms of pressure. If they want to be successful in the labour market, they must be successful in school and complete their studies; society has great expectations for young people and apart from that, they must be very flexible and mobile in order to find stable employment. In the near future, the EU and Slovenia will have to more actively address a new demographic challenge – ageing of the population and a decline in the young population. As a consequence of these processes, the characteristics of the labour force are changing and adapting. In Europe as well as in Slovenia, the number of young workers will decline, making us more dependent on the forthcoming generations. Hence, an urgent warning should be stressed that today, we must adequately prepare and empower young people to be able to assume this responsibility.