The Youth Council under the Chernihiv Regional State Administration has published a comprehensive study of the needs of young people in the region — and its findings reveal a systemic crisis that has been ignored for years.
In autumn 2025, the Youth Council at the Chernihiv Regional State Administration completed one of the most detailed studies of young people’s needs in the region in recent years. Over four hundred young people aged between 14 and 35 took part in the survey, with several dozen more participating in focus group discussions across various communities. The study ran from August to December 2025 and covered all five districts of the Chernihiv region. The data collected paints a mixed picture: young people want to participate in the life of their communities, but lack the tools, information and, often, even the basic physical infrastructure to do so.
Who was in charge and where were they from?
Of the 444 survey respondents, the largest group consisted of teenagers aged 14 to 17 — 40.1%. Young people aged 18 to 22 accounted for 19.8%, those aged 23 to 29 for 17.3%, and those aged 30 to 35 for 22.7%. The majority of respondents were women (66.9%), which the researchers attribute to women’s greater participation in social surveys, whilst also pointing to men’s lower involvement in such processes.
Geographically, the largest number of participants came from the Chernihiv district — 38.7%, followed by Nizhyn (22.3%), Koryukivka (20.7%), Pryluky (14%) and Novhorod-Siverskyi (4.3%). The largest number of respondents by place of residence came from the Mena, Chernihiv and Pryluky territorial communities.
By status: almost 40% of respondents stated that they were in employment, over 28% were school pupils, 24.8% were students, and 4.7% indicated that they were unemployed. Over 8% of participants are internally displaced persons — this is another factor that the researchers took into account when analysing the data.
There are jobs, but not the right ones
The issue of employment proved to be one of the most pressing. Almost half of the respondents — 49.4% — were unemployed at the time of the survey. Of those in work, only 20.3% were employed in their chosen field. The rest — more than two-thirds of those in work — were doing jobs unrelated to their education.
In their responses to an open-ended question about job hunting, young people shared specific experiences: “it’s hard”, “they found me”, “I work remotely and not in my own community because I couldn’t find a job here”, “it’s easy to find a job, but it’s not easy to find a decent wage”. These responses illustrate not just statistics, but a real distortion in the local labour market, where even the availability of work does not guarantee that it meets expectations or qualifications.
Despite this, 67.6% of those surveyed would like to start their own business. However, the same respondents honestly list the obstacles: 79.3% of potential entrepreneurs cited a lack of financial resources, 62.2% cited insufficient awareness of grants and programmes, 58.1% cited a lack of knowledge and practical experience, and 54.3% cited a fear of failure. It is telling that among their own suggested answers were ‘war’, ‘corruption’ and ‘lack of state support’ — words not usually included in official questionnaires.
The question about internships yielded another telling result: 53.2% of respondents were completely unaware of the existence of grant and internship programmes — neither at local nor national level. Only 12.8% consider themselves well-informed. At the same time, almost 40% stated they were willing to undertake a paid internship at businesses or institutions in the Chernihiv region, provided it lasted for one year.
Youth councils: they exist, but their voices are not being heard
One of the most important aspects of the study was the assessment of the institutional infrastructure for youth participation. During the summer of 2025, the Youth Council attached to the Regional State Administration sent requests to 57 village and settlement councils asking them to report on the presence or absence of youth councils within their territories. Responses were received from 43. According to the results, 23 communities confirmed that youth councils are active in their areas.
However, the actual influence of these bodies on young people remains limited. According to the survey results, only 14% of respondents believe that the youth council in their community has a very strong influence on young people’s lives. A further 30% say the influence is partial. Meanwhile, 19.4% have never heard of the youth council’s activities, 9.9% believe it functions mainly as a formality, and 5.9% noted that no such body exists in their community at all.
A focus group study with the Koryukivka Youth Council revealed a telling problem: most participants in the discussion could not distinguish between the functions of the youth council and the ‘Kub’ youth centre. The centre is perceived as a space for leisure, and the council as a tool for action, but this understanding, according to the researchers’ conclusion, ‘is not yet systematic’. Furthermore, the council’s activities are planned on an ad hoc basis, without an annual vision, and members do not always have a clear understanding of their own roles.
Among the 33 youth council representatives who took part in a separate survey, the most common problem in their work was a lack of knowledge and skills — 48.5%. Limited project funding was cited by 45.5%, and the inactivity of the council members themselves by 39.4%. Most councils have only partial strategic work plans.
Where there is no place for young people
Youth spaces — or the lack thereof — emerged as a distinct theme in each of the focus group studies conducted. In the Dmytrivska community, participants explicitly highlighted the lack of places where they could spend time after school, engage in creative activities, or simply socialise with their peers. In the Pryluky community, the only recognisable space for young people turned out to be ‘Dumka’, and it is this space that respondents associate with a safe environment. In Korop, 81.9% of the 285 participants in the local survey expressed a desire for an open-air cinema, a skate park and a well-equipped beach.
According to the results of the general survey, 32% of young people in Chernihiv Oblast cite the lack of youth spaces as one of the key problems in the community. In first place are difficulties with finding employment (64.4%), and in second place is low awareness of opportunities for young people (51.4%).
Where youth centres do exist, the situation is mixed: 27.4% of respondents know nothing about the work of such institutions. At the same time, those who are familiar with them generally rate them positively — 26% gave a ‘good’ rating, and a further 17.9% gave an ‘excellent’ rating.
Volunteering and the desire to get involved
Despite numerous barriers, young people show a marked willingness to participate in public life — particularly through volunteering. 12.4% of those surveyed are actively involved in voluntary work, whilst a further 51.4% take part from time to time. It is telling that 19.4% are not currently involved but would like to be — and it is precisely this group that has the greatest potential for active participation, provided they are given access to information and coordination.
Among the barriers to volunteering, respondents cited ‘lack of time’, ‘lack of information’, ‘lack of a competent coordinator and resources’, ‘social anxiety’, ‘fear of failure’ and ‘family circumstances’. Some of them stated explicitly that local authorities either do not offer volunteering initiatives or do not create the conditions for them to emerge.
Among the types of activities that young people would like to see in their community, career events — job fairs and meetings with employers — are in the highest demand (49.5%). Sports events were chosen by 43.7%, and educational training sessions on leadership and financial literacy by 42.6%. A demand for military training was reported by 27.9% of respondents — a figure that reflects the context of full-scale war.
What young people are asking of the authorities
When asked whether their views are taken into account in community life, 36.3% of respondents answered ‘no’. Only 13.5% believe that their views are genuinely taken into account. A further 29.5% say that their views are taken into account to some extent, but that this is not enough.
Among the forms of support that young people would like to receive from local authorities, financial support through grants took first place — 68.5%. Next came assistance with employment (57%), provision of space for activities (54.7%) and information support (52.5%). Psychological and mental support is important for 41.9% — and this figure does not seem surprising given the ongoing war.
The suggestions young people made in their open-ended responses centred on several themes: patriotic education and commemorating the fallen, psychological support, an internship scheme in businesses and local government bodies, an online platform with information on grants, the development of youth centres and hubs, cultural events, and community engagement.
What happens next?
Based on the findings of the study, the authors formulated recommendations in two areas: working with young people and working with youth councils. Among the priorities are the creation of a single online platform offering relevant opportunities for young people, the organisation of information campaigns, leadership training, and support for youth spaces and co-working spaces. Regarding youth councils: regular meetings between their representatives, an educational and information programme tailored to the realities of the Chernihiv region, a Youth Councils Forum, the introduction of an offline experience-sharing system, and the initiation of the creation of councils in communities where they do not yet exist.
The study also explicitly highlights the need to incorporate its findings into the new regional programme ‘Youth of Chernihiv Region’ for 2026–2030. Whether this will serve as a basis for real changes in the region’s youth policy remains to be seen, and will depend, above all, on the decisions of those who shape this policy.
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