European youths trust NGOs more than political institutions
ALEANDER BALZAN
20.03.2006 @ 17:41 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Youths trust NGOs like Greenpeace or Amnesty International much more than they trust political institutions, according to a new survey.
According to a project on political participation of young Europeans, young people believe that working for NGOs is more effective than working for political parties.
Young people trust civil society more than politicians (Photo: European Commission)
The project, which was funded by Brussels, collected data from more than 8,000 young Europeans from eight countries and was aimed at understanding more about young people’s political participation in Europe.
The results show that European institutions, such as the European Parliament and the European Commission, enjoy more trust than national institutions.
Despite the fact that young people trust civil society organisations more than they trust political parties, a majority of those interviewed responded that they feel close to a political party.
Italy (71%) and Finland (68%) are the countries where most youths feel close to a political party while young Britons (23%) feel least attached.
A majority also said that they are simply not interested in politics.
Germany had the highest number interested in politics (51%), with Italian youths coming in second at 43 percent and Austrians at 42 percent. Young people in the UK, Estonia and Slovakia are the least interested in politics.
Young Europeans reporting that they follow the news on a daily basis varied from 11.3% in the UK to 38.4% in Italy. Most of the youths follow the news on television.
The survey showed that schools are among the main factors that might motivate young people to participate in politics. Media, parents and friends may also be important in motivating young people to participate in politics.
Youths from different countries also have different perceptions of the future. Estonia's youth are the most optimistic. Over 80% of Estonian youths are expecting a much better future than their parents' generation. Respondents from the UK, Finland and Slovakia were also optimistic about their future.
Young French people on the other hand fear a cutback on social security although they are optimistic about their job and income perspectives. Germans and Austrians, meanwhile, generally expect to be in a worse situation than their parents are now.
The interviewees were aged between 15 and 25 years.