Action = CIJOC-ICYCW International Survey on Young People and Work in a Globalised World

Origin of the Project

In May 2003, during a meeting of ICYCW International Chaplains – past and present – the lack of visibility of the ICYCW at international level was noted. From this came the idea of launching a big international survey on young workers.

At the same time, during the 5th International Council in 2000, the International Secretariat had received a mandate to carry out research on “Young people in the face of changes in the world of work”. This research had been suspended after several attempts to launch it because of the amount of work involved.

The proposal of an International Survey responded perfectly to the need of National Movements to deepen their knowledge of this subject. It was a way of re-launching the research and tackling the subject with appropriate means and timetable.

During the 6th International Council in 2004 the Survey was proposed to all the national Movements who welcomed it with enthusiasm. They gave a mandate to the International Secretariat to set up the International Survey keeping in mind the comments of the National movements during the Council.

Why have an International Survey of young people and work?

The purpose of this research is to study the situation of young workers in the context of globalization and to compare what happens in different parts of the world.

Objectives:

For the Church:

· To underline the need to reach out to young workers who still today are often distant from the Church;

· To appreciate the YCW as a concrete and suitable response to this need;

For Society:

· To promote a greater visibility of the ICYCW, especially wth regard to international institutions like the ILO, the international trade unions, national governments etc…

· To give the ICYCW the opportunity to commincate its message on the situation of young workers starting from the life and work of young people that the YCW is in contact with.

For the National Movements

· To have the experience of doing a survey at local and national level and to develop the practice of the Action Campaign in different countries;

· To develop tools of knowledge and analysis of their own situation as young people in the world of work.

More specifically, to carry out a survey among young people is a form of active participation for YCW leaders, an invitation to enter into the reality of other young people of their age, an opportunity to be in contact with them and to propose the YCW Movement to them as a good experience.

It is not therefore just a scientific exercise which is to be superimposed on the life of the Movement but a working instrument which invites the Movement to go out to young workers, which opens up to them their experience and which makes the adult world more aware of what young people are facing today.

So, we are not asking you to propose the survey as something to be done in addition to your normal activities but rather to make it an integral part of your programme of activities throughout the year built into your educative process and plans for extension among young workers.

The Questionnaire

The questionnaire, which is anonymous, comes in the form of 40 closed questions (that is questions for which an answer is chosen from a list provided) on the following themes:

A. Work Situation

B. Evaluation of Work and Prospects

C. Social and Religious Involvement

D. Personal Details

Work on the Data

The scientific committee works on the treatment of the collected data and submitted them to the sociologists and the National movements for verification and comments on the relevance of the collected data on the national and local realities.

After the analysis at National level by the YCW movements and the interventions of sociologists and experts; an International seminar was held in 2007 in Barcelona. Similar presentation was also done in Rome during the International Youth Forum in March 2007.

The International Research Committee led by Arniel Iway (current IS member) and Jackie Hocquet (IS member from 2002 – 2006) combine and summarized all the inputs, analysis, interpretations, remarks and comments of collaborators, theologians, international sociologists, YCW national leaders during the continental and sub-regional meetings, and the collaborative effort of the scientific team who conducted the framing, conceptualization and statistical analysis of the survey. They also made further analysis of the data and incorporated similar International survey data and that of the ILO figures.

Presentation of the International Survey results during the 7th International Council in Paris in July 2008

The International Research committee presented during the 2008 IC in Paris the drafted International survey document conceptualised during the Council of 2004 in Rome.

The PowerPoint presentation was done using the five key points namely: the respondents of the study, the employment status, the perception of young workers about work, and the social and religious involvement of the respondents.

After the presentation, the delegates were divided into small working groups so that they could have time to participate fully in the discussion of the results of the survey and compare it with the situations in their own countries.

The following questions were used in the working groups:

Select the 3 most important concerns of your country that you can identify in the survey presentation, Discuss why you have chosen these concerns and make comparisons between the survey and the real situation of your country.

At the end of the Council, the delegates formulated a resolution directing the International Team to publish the results in a book incorporating in it the testimonies of the work-life experiences of young workers which they could use in educating and reaching out to others and in making contacts with other movements in their individual countries.