State of Youth NL Report: Performance Pressure

Research State of Youth N: Youth do not feel heard. 62% of young people experience performance pressure on a regular basis, whereas only 5% indicate they never do.

Amsterdam, 26 August 2025 –  These and other findings are revealed in a recent study by State of  Youth NL, an initiative of KidsRights in collaboration with its core partners, the National  Youth Council (NJR), Maatschappelijke Diensttijd (MDT), and the Augeo Foundation.
In this representative survey, 3,026 young people and young adults are now making their voices heard themselves.

Causes of performance pressure

Young people experience performance pressure most often when they are busy with school or their studies (47%). They also feel it when thinking about their future, such as starting a family or buying a house (21%). Other causes they mention include work (15%), sports (7%), and time spent on social media.

They tend to feel this pressure through overthinking their actions (52%) and experiencing stress (51%). Many also report feeling frustrated when things don’t go as planned (47%) and frequently feeling very exhausted (47%).

Solutions to performance pressure

Young people have a lot of ideas and advice for young people themselves, parents, schools and the government with as its goal to decrease performance pressure for young people.

Young people can help themselves by learning that not everything has to be done, that it’s okay to say no, and that things don’t need to be perfect (57%). They can also learn to see failing or making mistakes not as something negative, but as a way to grow (50%). Another helpful step is to focus more on the positive things in their lives (44%).

Young people can support others by offering distraction, for example by doing something fun together when someone feels performance pressure (50%). They can also share how they deal with this pressure themselves and offer practical tips (40%). Another way to help is by giving examples of successful people who first made mistakes or also struggled with pressure (8%).

Schools, study programs, and teachers can help by planning more thoughtfully, for example by taking into account the homework students receive for other subjects (52%). They can also schedule tests and exams before holidays rather than right after them (43%). In addition, schools can place less emphasis on high grades and performance, and focus more on students’ overall development (42%).

Colleagues and employers can help by being trained to give positive feedback (49%). Performance pressure in sports can be reduced when young people give each other supportive and encouraging feedback (44%). Performance pressure from social media can be lowered when young people choose to delete certain apps or set screen‑time limits (57%).

Rationale and urgency of the study, international law

This research shows that 61% of young people regularly or often experience performance pressure. As a result, they feel tired, insecure, unmotivated, and lose enjoyment in the things they do. This conflicts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3: Good Health and Well‑Being, as well as Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which concerns the right to health and healthcare. It is important to reduce performance pressure among young people and support their mental well‑being. To achieve this, it is essential that young people are actively involved in creating solutions.

We continue to advocate for young people’s right to participate. They must be heard when decisions affect their lives, because their voices matter. Youth participation is also embedded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Articles 12 and 13 state that children have the right to express their views and to be heard. That is why we emphasize the importance of these overarching rights. Without meaningful youth participation, the Netherlands cannot fully uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

About State of Youth NL, partners, and sponsors
State of Youth NL is the leading voice of the new generation: a unique, representative online youth panel for Dutch young people, with a mission to represent and amplify the voices of all young people in the Netherlands. For this study, State of Youth NL collaborated with Abbi Insights and, for the representative sample, with Motivaction. This study would not have been possible without the participation of young people and the financial support of Vfonds, Fonds21, the Janivo Foundation, Dioraphte, the Boschuysen Foundation, and the core partners MDT and the Augeo Foundation.