1.7 Funding youth policy
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How youth policy is funded
Youth policy is funded by the government budget.
In 2023, the budget of the children and youth department amounts to € 796 522 949 (corresponding to 22.4% of the ministry's budget and 3.04% of the government's total budget).
The largest portion of this budget is used for childcare service provision. The budget for youth-related services was € 17.8 million in 2020 and € 19.7 million in 2023.
Due to the cross-sectoral character of youth policy, the total amount invested in youth is much higher, but difficult to quantify. A large number of specific measures for young people (e.g. employment-related help and support services or housing support) are not included in the budget of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, but in other ministries (e.g. employment or housing ministry). Furthermore, at local level, the municipalities fund different youth-related services. Reliable budget data with regard to youth-related services are not available.
What is funded?
A large percentage of the youth budget is allocated to the local youth centres, which are in charge of youth work on the local level. Youth organisations are also funded (e.g. the National Youth Council, the National Assembly of Young People, the National Pupil Conference of Luxembourg, Youth Information or the scouts' movements).
Political actions and services provided by other ministries (employment, housing, sports, education, culture, etc.) that affect young people are funded by other budgetary items of the government.
Financial accountability
Actors (e.g., youth organizations, youth work providers, NGOs) can receive financial support via an agreement or subsidies. These can be granted for specific measures and activities, provided that they fall within the scope and the objectives of the 2008 Youth Law (Art. 16), listed in sub-section 1.2. Applications must be submitted using the ‘Subsidies for youth measures’ (subsides pour mesures en faveur de la jeunesse) form. The general procedure related to the supervision of budgetary and financial management requires the recipients of public funding to submit a narrative report and a financial report to the Youth Department of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, describing the actual and precise use of the subsidy allocated.
On a more general level, financial accountability is assured by the Court of Auditors, which controls the financial management of the bodies, administrations and services of the government and is accountable to the parliament. The Inspectorate General of Finances (Inspection Générale des Finances) is a second important body in charge of the preparation, realisation and control of the government budget.
Use of EU Funds
Youth projects in Luxembourg use EU funds, including the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Social Fund + (ESF+). A large proportion of the activities funded concern the entry of young people into the labour market and the fight against dropping out of school or work. Other initiatives focus, for example, on the new challenges of digitalisation, (non)discrimination in the workplace and linguistic and cultural co-existence in Luxembourg schools. Further projects and initiatives can be found on a dedicated website on the European Funds Portal of Luxembourg.