In Greece, social media replaces cash

In Greece, social media are increasingly helping people to help each other.

This is according to Eleni-Revekka Staiou, a PhD student who is researching the new phenomenon in Athens. As we publish, Greece is openly considering leaving the eurozone after five years of economic recession, massive cuts to public spending and a series of financial bailouts.

Students are the experts at finding privacy

Upholding a social life – certainly the fun part that involves loud discussions, sex, quarrelling and loud music – is hard to do in the close proximity of your parents.

Let’s face it: Knowing mum is in the next room is not good for romance. And it is hard to hold a good party for your friends if the guests have to be out before your parents’ curfew.

Leaving home: The facts

29-30 years old was the average age of Slovakians, Italians and Greeks leaving home, even before the recession, according to the most recent statistics from Eurostat, (2007). For men it takes longer with the average Bulgarian, Slovenian and Slovakian man staying at home until they are a 31.5 years old.

In contrast, the average home-leaving age in Finland, France and the Netherlands was around 23, although again men leave the nest slightly later than women.

One in three men and one in five women aged 25 - 34 in the 27 EU member states live with their parents.

Students paralyse Quebec with strikes, demos

University and college students’ protest against a government tuition hike in French-speaking Quebec – also known as the ‘Maple Spring’ – may be coming to an end after more than three months of strikes. The second round of negotiations between students associations and the government appears to have given some results, report Canadian media.

Pain in Spain won't go away

Students graduating from universities in Spain were already desperate before things really started going wrong with the economy in 2008. Now, as the European crisis drags on through 2012 and beyond, youth unemployment in Spain is at 50.5 per cent – yes, 50.5 per cent according to the latest statistics from Eurostat – students are distrustful of anything that comes from government.

Spanish protester: Stupid projects and corruption

It is not the anonymous forces of the market that has crippled Spain. It is a corrupt clique of politicians, bankers and financial institutions. This is the sharp diagnosis of 24-year old Pablo Rodriguez from Léon, studying a year at the University of Copenhagen.