Officials recently introduced a three-year,
300-million-euro project to help the region’s thousands of jobless youth. ‘For
the region, 2011 will the year of youth,’ region president Enrico Rossi said in
his year-end address.
‘In Tuscany, there are 121,000 people unemployed, 70,000 of whom
are youth. Thirty percent of young adults between 30 and 34 years still live at
home with their parents. Twenty thousand youth in the region are carrying out
unpaid internships without remuneration. This is the part of Tuscany that suffers the most. We want to help them gain
control over their lives and their autonomy, and build a future for themselves.
We will not do so alone; we will ask for everyone’s help, banks and
foundations, civic and religious institutions, economic associations,
businesses and labour unions. Our project is robust, and in line with Europe. Tuscany has the strength to respond to the crisis and if we
take a wager on youth, who are not the problem but the answer, we will be able
to bounce back.’
With these words, Rossi outlines the goals of Progetto
Giovani to counteract the effects of the national government’s recent austerity
measures and help boost the regional economy.
Using funds to support policies aimed at helping youth
find work and live independently, the Tuscan Region will allocate 45 million
euro to subsidize apartment rentals by young couples; 300 million euro to
subsidize first-time homeownership; 33 million euro annually toward stipends
for internships (in addition to a percentage paid by businesses) and financial
incentives to businesses that hire interns; 30 million euro for entrepreneurs
working in the agricultural sector and a new association to help guide new
entrepreneurs in any business sector; and 50,000 euro in financial aid to
graduates who wish to pursue a post-graduate degree abroad, in addition to the
11,000 scholarships currently available to students in the region.
If we don’t intervene in order to help our youth, we
will be gambling with our future and risk creating a huge generational gap and
increased marginalization for an important part of our society. We can’t let
this happen, and the Progetto Giovani will help us diminish this risk,’ Rossi
concluded.
