Unemployment, drugs and attitudes among European youth

Abstract

This paper studies changes in the patterns of drug consumption and attitudes towards drugs in relation to sky-high (youth) unemployment rates brought about by the Great Recession. Our analysis is based on data for 28 European countries that refer to young people. We find that the consumption of cannabis and 'new substances' is positively related to increasing unemployment rates. An increase of 1% in the regional unemployment rate is associated with an increase of 0.7 percentage points in the ratio of young people who state that they have consumed cannabis at some point in time. Our findings also indicate that higher unemployment may be associated with more young people perceiving that access to drugs has become more difficult, particularly access to ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. According to young Europeans, when the economy worsens, anti-drug policies should focus on the reduction of poverty and unemployment, and not on implementing tougher measures against users.

Causes of admission of patients 18-­30 years old in intensive care units

“…No statistically significant correlation was found between the nationality and the cause of admission. However, half of the 13 states that there is a positive relationship between the level of unemployment and the consumption of narcotic drugs, such as cannabis and other illicit substances, as 1% increase to unemployment is linked to an increase of 0.68% to young adults who use cannabis, while in the case of other illicit drugs the increase is 0.49%. The majority of those who admitted for post-surgery treatment were private employees (48.6%) and students (37.1%).…”

Drug use and early job insecurity

“…The quantitative analysis provides an aggregate picture of young people's substance-use behaviour and attitudes towards drug use across Europe during the recent crisis. Ayllón and Ferreira-Batista (2018) find that the increase in joblessness amongst youth is associated with an increase in the use of cannabis and 'new substances' such as powders, tablets/pills or herbs imitating the effect of illicit drugs. In several countries they are sold legally and are often known as 'legal highs' (Ayllón and Ferreira-Batista, 2018).…”

“…The difficulties facing young people affect several important choices linked to education and training (Ayllón and Nollenberger, 2016), career paths, family formation (Ayllón, 2017;Schneider, 2015;Sobotka et al, 2011) and living arrangements (Becker et al, 2010;Matsudaira, 2016). These difficulties may also affect health, subjective well-being (Buttler et al, 2016) and (anti-)social behaviour related, for example, to the use of drugs or excessive alcohol consumption (Ayllón and Ferreira-Batista, 2018;Claussen, 1999;Vijayasiri et al, 2012).…”

“…The first part of this chapter presents findings from an original quantitative analysis carried out by Ayllón and Ferreira-Batista (2018). The quantitative analysis provides an aggregate picture of young people's substance-use behaviour and attitudes towards drug use across Europe during the recent crisis.…”

The Effect of the Economic Crisis on Adolescents’ Perceived Health and Risk Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis

“…Having an unemployed father has been associated with a positive effect on the probability of binge drinking [27]. The 'economic stress' mechanism links substance consumption to psychological reasons [28]. On the contrary, other studies indicate a positive relationship between unhealthy lifestyles and household budget, suggesting a procyclical relationship between macro-economic conditions and risk behaviors [29][30][31].…”