Bright young things are spoilt and xenophobic
BRUSSELS – Greece faces an acute problem of xenophobia, particularly among young people, according to an EU-wide survey that was released on Thursday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics body. The – somewhat alarming – findings of the Eurostat survey, which used a polling sample of people aged between 15-24, reveal that for Greece’s youth, foreigners are too numerous, too poor and of little use and they should be deported as soon as possible. Specifically, the survey shows that 55 percent of young Greeks deem that there are a «large» number of foreigners in the country, 44 percent consider the number «excessive,» while one in four would like their deportation. The figures are the highest in the EU, as is the percentage of those who find it necessary to note that these foreigners come from «poor» countries. With these figures in mind, it should not come as a surprise that Greece has the lowest percentage of young people who believe that the presence of foreigners has something positive to contribute to their country. These certainly are thought-provoking findings, especially given the traditional view of young people as the progressive section of society. The survey comes one year after a similar one that was again conducted by Eurostat, and in which Greece again topped the list of EU countries in the percentage of people that regarded the presence of foreigners as «troubling.» Eurostat’s survey further reveals that three in four young Greeks are supported financially exclusively by their parents, a percentage which is the second highest in the EU. At the same time, Greece has the second lowest percentage of young people who declare that they earn a living from some type of paid job. Young Italians were found to have the highest and lowest percentages respectively. It should thus come as no surprise that 72 percent of young Greeks (one of the highest percentages in the EU), state that they still live at their parents’ house due to financial difficulties. But that is not the only reason. Young Greeks are ranked second when it comes to the number of those who declare that they don’t have a home of their own, because they prefer to «enjoy the advantages of home living without shouldering the responsibility that accompanies making a home for themselves…»
