YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

270 Figure 7.13: Disadvantages of young and elderly people, when it comes to welfare. 15% 20% 10% 5% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 8 Strongly disagree Strongly agree 1.5 6.0 1.8 4.9 5.3 17.4 11.8 16.7 13.4 5.8 13.3 0% Source: Mladina 2020. Here again, there is a tendency for women to agree with this statement to a greater extent than men. Also, individuals with higher levels of edu- cation show greater solidarity in this sense. It could be argued that the hypothesis of (excessive) individualism among the young loses its rele- vance here, but what is particularly promising is the fact that individuals with the highest prospects of occupying higher positions in the social hierarchy show the highest degree of empathy towards the position of the elderly. Such an assessment is also in line with the thinking of some relevant authors who stress that the elderly are not better placed than the young when it comes to economic well-being, but that both are dis- advantaged compared to the middle-aged population (Kohli, 2009: 66). Young people are reluctant to believe that older people are privileged compared to the young, or that the (current) older people should give up their jobs for the sake of the young. Instead, they are more inclined to believe that the issue of welfare is a systemic problem, and that both young and older people are disadvantaged.