Rethinking instead of giving up

"Frustrated fits quite well." Mathis Godefroid is not only president of the Youth Council (at the time of the interview he was still president, but officially resigned from office on September 23), the umbrella organisation of Luxembourg's youth organisations, but at 23 years old he belongs to the generation that has a hard time finding housing. "It is perhaps more of a fear. Fear of the future. Even people who have a master's degree in their pocket have difficulties finding a job and thus a roof over their heads." He says he speaks for a large section of young adults when he says: "It feels like we are not helped, and we are not understood. We (the Jugendrot, ed.) attended the housing committee in parliament a few years ago. There we were told: 'There is nothing wrong with living with your mother for a while!' The 60 MPs who sit at the helm are all property owners. Young people don't feel properly represented by them."

He would like his generation to be "taken on board" and to have a greater say. "Politicians have to approach us and let us help shape things. However, they must also realise that this one problem is connected to many other problems." Keyword transport. It is not only a problem in the north that the bus network does not meet today's requirements, says Godefroid.

A seemingly free decision

The state cannot preach that people should settle here in the country but then do without their cars as much as possible. That is not possible for everyone. He says he is aware that not every person will like his following statement, but he sees few alternatives at the moment: "I would advise living abroad. It's cheaper, the transport infrastructure is usually better and it's easier to put money aside, because without start-up capital it's not possible or very difficult." The option should actually be a free choice, "but I feel that in terms of housing you don't have a free choice anymore, you can only go for alternatives."