youth check
event platform digital

The youth-check is an instrument of regulatory impact assessment. With the youth-check, bills of the German Federal Government are examined with regard to their effects on young people between 12 and 27 years of age. Both intended and unintended effects of the proposed legislation are thereby identified.

The idea of a youth-check arose from the realisation that the interests of young people are considered less often in day-to-day politics in Germany than the interests of other age groups.

The Competence Centre Youth-Check (ComYC), a project of the German Research Institute for Public Administration, carries out the youth-check. The ComYC is funded on a long-term basis by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. It is the only scientific institution in Germany that carries out an accompanying regulatory impact assessment (ex-ante assessment) for all federal government bills. 

The youth-check is based on a standardised assessment tool. This ensures that the effects of the assessed proposals are mapped as comprehensively as possible and can be compared across legislative proposals. The youth-check has been established as an effective instrument of regulatory impact assessment to draw attention to the concerns of young people. It helps to raise the awareness of policy makers, public administration and the expert community with regard to youth as a stage of life in its own right.