The Infra4NextGen project is four-year Horizon EU-funded project co-ordinated by the European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) and includes CESSDA ERIC, the European Values Study (EVS) and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) at its core. The project is providing data, tools and training to support the NextGenerationEU themes – digital, equal, green, healthy, and strong – and European youth policy.
The spsTREND lab at the Department of Social and Political sciences of the University of Milan is part of the Infra4NextGen project through its involvement in the European Values Study (EVS) team, represented by Prof. Ferruccio Biolcati Rinaldi and David Consolazio.
TOPLINE RESULTS
The Topline Results reports present key findings from nationally representative data collected as part of the Infra4NextGen project. The data comes from the CRONOS-3 self-completion web-first panel survey, fielded over five waves in 2024–25 across 11 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.
Panellists were asked to complete each wave online or, where this was not possible, using paper self-completion questionnaires. The survey featured almost 500 questions covering the five key areas of the NextGenerationEU recovery plan: Digital, Equal, Green, Healthy and Strong.
MAKE IT HEALTHY
A new Topline Results report published as part of the Make it Healthy theme of the Infra4NextGen project focuses on mental health outcomes.
Analysis of panel survey data found that young people and those with lower levels of education are more likely to report poor mental health.
Better mental health outcomes were reported by those with strong personal relationships and respondents less likely to feel lonely.
The report – Mental health among young Europeans – was written by Insa Backhaus-Hoven and Terje Andreas Eikemo (CHAIN – Centre for Health Equity Analytics) and David Consolazio (University of Milan).
To help address mental health issues, the report’s authors suggest expanding affordable mental health services aimed at young people, and prioritising personal relationships through community initiatives. They also request an increase in the amount of evidence-based online resources and suggest that national governments should consider age-based restrictions on access to some social media platforms
MAKE IT DIGITAL
New analysis of panel survey data explores how people view and use Artificial intelligence (AI) services.
The Topline Results report – Skills, Use and Attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence in Europe – examines information and communications technology (ICT) and AI skills, use of AI technology, and the implementation and effects of AI in the workplace.
Particular focus was paid to differences between older and younger respondents, and attitudes and behaviours by education level.
The data showed that only a minority are confident in their use of AI tools and are more likely to feel that they can use AI services than they are to actually use them frequently.Only one in four respondents is comfortable allocating administrative tasks for their own job to AI, and 40% of respondents think their jobs are at risk because of AI.
Analysis of the data was conducted by the academic experts from the Make it Digital theme of the Infra4NextGen project: Lasse Marz and Anja-Kristin Abendroth (Bielefeld University).
The authors recommend the introduction of more training programmes, especially for older people.
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