Why Today’s Youth Are Termed Young Skeptics

Young people are less supportive of the welfare state than their parents, more likely to believe that people should look after themselves, and less trusting of their neighbours, a Government report has found.

In what is described as ‘a clear generational shift’, those who grew up under Margaret Thatcher and John Major are more ‘individualist’ and appear to be more cynical and more suspicious that the benefits system is being abused.

The Cabinet Office findings indicate that individualism is the most pronounced among Generation Y, those born after 1980 into the early 2000s.

The report stresses that this trait does not mean those in their 20s and early 30s are more selfish than older generations because they are just as likely to value the welfare of others.

While the shift in attitudes could be good news for the Conservative Party, which hopes to combat the benefits culture, and bad news for Labour, which promotes the welfare state, Generation Y are less likely to vote, according to the findings.

The wide-ranging report also found:

- Children are set to live with their parents for longer;

- Political engagement among the young is set to decline further, with even fewer voting in elections;

- There will be a slow decline of religious identification, pushing us further towards a secular society;

- Grandparents could increasingly be called on to look after young children – as they are expected to stay in the workplace for longer;

- There could be a future of less-secure jobs for the young – but there are signs that many have reacted to the economic crash by becoming more entrepreneurial than their forebears;

- For some, the effect of the internet and the prevalence of technology could have a ‘negative impact’.

The study concluded that while there was much to be positive about, ‘there are also potential concerns, for instance around declining mainstream political engagement, low levels of social trust and the potential negative impacts of digital technologies’.

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