The National Youth Federation was the training organization for future members of the LCY, SAWPY, and the trade unions. Patterned after the Soviet model of youth indoctrination organizations, the Yugoslav youth group suffered from divided leadership, poor support from the party, and dwindling membership in the 1980s. The very high youth unemployment rate of the late 1980s made the indoctrination of young socialists a difficult task under the best of conditions. The proportion of nonparticipating members doubled between 1981 and 1986. Slovenia, where only 5 percent of youth expressed a desire to become party members in 1986, had the lowest figure for the period. The youth federation exerted little influence on state or party politics. However, in 1989 the Slovenian branch of the organization announced plans for transformation into a new political party with mass support, in time for the 1990 Slovene parliamentary elections.
Data as of December 1990