Youth attitudes – not so different

A major new survey of young peoples’ attitudes and priorities has found that while young people believe in democracy over dictatorship, 63 per cent think Britain’s democracy is in trouble.

That’s not so different from the view reported for all ages in last year’s British Social Attitudes report.

The University of Glasgow’s John Smith Centre partnered with leading UK pollster Focaldata to carry out in-depth conversations with young people aged 16-29 across Britain.

Material needs

The UK Youth Poll 2025, sponsored by Nationwide Building Society, found that young people’s anxieties are overwhelmingly due to financial issues and material needs. It also reported a strong call for “better politics”: more honest, more open, that delivers on young peoples’ basic needs.

Some of the poll findings are little surprise. Most young people apparently sit in the political “centre-ground”, whatever that means. And those in work or with a degree are far more optimistic and engaged than those who are long-term unemployed, or less well-educated. Hardly a surprise

Differences

The poll shows that despite media and political insistence, the notion of a “generation war” of young people against all older people is out-dated (if it ever existed). Differences by class, education, gender, ethnicity and region are more pronounced than differences between generations.

Labelling young people as “generation Z” is lazy, simplistic media stereotyping – no more valid than “millennials” or “baby boomers”. This survey is evidence that young people are largely independent-minded, and more willing to participate in civic life than is often assumed.