Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

"La Generación Ni Ni" And The Exodus Of Spanish Youth: National Crisis Or Functioning European Union Market?, Stephanie E. Lester

Scripps Senior Theses

More than 300,000 Spaniards have left Spain since 2008, the majority being the well-educated youth. The exodus of youth represents an unusual and concerning phenomenon for Spain. This thesis explains the factors contributing to the emigration of Spanish well-educated youth, and from there extrapolates on implications for the nature of an integrated market in the European Union. It concludes that push-pull economic factors and an affiliation with the European Union internal market encourage intra-European migration. Additionally, political disillusionment within Spain erodes the sense of national loyalty among youth to further promote emigration. The Spanish case demonstrates that within a community …