2011 World Youths

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    a

    Worldwide Surveyby the Fondation pour l'innovation politique

    Edited by

    Dominique Reyni

    www.fondapol.org

    2011 WorldYouths

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    Management: Dominique REYNI

    Scientifc Coordination: Grazyna MARCINKOWSKA

    Editorial Sta: Alexis BENOIST, La JEANNIN, Grazyna MARCINKOWSKA,Dominique REYNI, Mathieu ZAGRODZKI

    Graphics and Layout Designer: Julien RMY

    Illustrations: Batrice BOUB

    Production: Anas ALLEMAND, Rogelio ALVAREZ, Natasha CAILLOT,Anne FLAMBERT, Bndicte du GRANDLAUNAY, Pauline PANNIER,Miandra RATRIMOARIVONY

    Published in: 2011

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    a

    Worldwide Surveyby the Fondation pour l'innovation politique

    Edited by

    Dominique Reyni

    www.fondapol.org

    2011 WorldYouths

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    6 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

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    7Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Global Generations ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................10By Dominique Reyni, Executive Director o the Fondation pour linnovation politique

    Methodology of the survey and this paper ...............................................................................................................14By Grazyna Marcinkowska

    NEW PERSPECTIVES ON A GLOBALISED WORLD ...........19

    Young people are at ease with globalisation ........................................................................................................21

    Emerging countries youths ully accept globalisationEver younger and more mobile

    Focus: Home sweet home, even in hard times: French youth ..................................................................................................................... 22

    Focus: Young Greeks into the storm... ............................................................................................................................................................................................24

    Focus: Chinese youths: From economic to cultural openness.......................................................................................................................25

    Do European youths have doubts about the Union? .............................................................................26

    A sense o attachment to Europe is no substitute or national identityFewer than one out o two young Europeans trust the European UnionYoung Europeans nevertheless anticipate a more important role or the European UnionEmerging countries youths do not distrust the European Union

    Focus: Turkish youths no longer believe in Europe..........................................................................................................................................................27

    Pollution is of greater concern to the Chinese, Indiansand Brazilians than to the Europeans .................................................................................................................................... 31

    Chinese youths are the most concerned about pollutionAmong European youths, it is the Swedes who are the most concerned about pollution

    Climate change is o lesser concern than unemployment

    MINDSETS AND LIFESTYLES .................................................................................................................33

    Geographical distribution and typology of optimism:three different categories of youths .................................................................................................................................34

    Geographical scope o the crisisEnthusiastic young peopleYouths more certain o themselves than o their homelandsWorried youthsEverywhere, sel-confdence is greater than trust in government

    Focus: Japan: The Great Depression?...............................................................................................................................................................................................36

    Focus: Israels optimistic and confident young people ............................................................................................................................................38

    Contents

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    Triumph of the family .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 39

    My amily, my identityStarting a amilyBecoming a property ownerCultivating riendshipsBeing in loveFocus: Moroccan youths most closely associate identity with belonging to a group ..................................................40

    Young people in the worplace: dissatisfied but optimistic .............................................42

    Unemployment is still a concernTrust in their proessional utureAbove all, a good job must pay wellSocial useulness matters, but it is not a priorityFame? No thanks!In which sector do youths want to work? Services lead the way, with education ranked highestFocus: Money, fame, ambition: Slumdog Millionnaires India ............................................................................................................................46

    All of the worlds young people have not given up on religion .......................................... 47

    Religion: A mixed proleReligion as an identity actor

    Religious aith is not one o the qualities that young people think are most important to pass on totheir childrenFocus: Strong commitment to Christianity among South African youths .................................................................................49

    Focus: Post-Communist Europe: What is the status of Christianity today? .............................................................................50

    Spirituality, Sexuality, Technology:Young peoples views of the modern lifestyle .................................................................................................... 51

    European youths are less attracted to spiritual values than the rest o the world isFamily remains the oundation o societySexuality: A conditional reedomIs gender equality becoming consensual?

    According to Indian youths, technology does not make people happyFocus: One-fourth of young Italians are opposed to sexual relations outside of marriage .................................54

    Need the Net vs. needing a home .................................................................................................................................................. 55

    The Internet has not lessened interest in cultural activitiesThe cinema is very popular in France and in the United StatesAppearances matter, especially in Eastern EuropeOnline activities are increasingly popular but there are still material needs to considerFocus: Are young Eastern Europeans fashion victims? ........................................................................................................................................57

    Focus: The British: Innovators or couch potatoes? .................................................................................................................................................58

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    Politics and citizenship ...............................................................................................................................61Northern youths are increasingly in favour of a smaller public sector,

    while those from the South are demanding more social protection ............62

    The young are more in avour o a society where individual perormance is rewardedA demand or social protectionEnglish-speaking youths tend to oppose extensive social benetsFor Chinese and Indian youths, money is happiness

    Focus: Canadians, Australians and American youths do not like taxes .......................................................................................65

    Retirement: End of the consensus? ........................................................................................................................................ 66

    Thirty-nine percent o young Europeans do not wish to pay their elders pensionsonly 21% o Russian youths share this opinion

    Immigration: European youths prefer integration .................................................................................68

    Young people rom emigration countries are more in avour o the multicultural modelYoung peoples opinions are divided over the issue o religious symbols in the workplaceFrance, Germany, United Kingdom: A distrust o Muslims

    Young people do not trust their institutions,except in India and China .................................................................................................................................................................................. 70

    Parliament and government: Distrustul EuropeansLess criticism o sovereign institutionsYoung people avour multilateralismFocus: Young Mexicans: Widespread distrust ...................................................................................................................................................................73

    Focus: Young Scandinavians evolve in a trusting society ....................................................................................................................................74

    Obedience and Rebellion .....................................................................................................................................................................................75

    My lie is in my own handsTeaching children to be independentChoosing a partner: Young people still seek amily approvalYouths are willing to be disobedient in order to ght injusticeAre you willing to die or your country?Focus: American youths are more convinced than Europeans

    that they have the power to change society ................................................................................................................................................76

    Focus: Young Germans continue to dread war ................................................................................................................................................................78

    Concerned but uncommitted:Seeing out new forms of political involvement .......................................................................................... 79

    Voting is still a dutyActivism has lost its appealFocus: Brazilian youths care about others ...............................................................................................................................................................................81

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    GlobalGenerationsBy Dominique REYNI,Executive Director of the Fondation

    Societies always pay dearly or their lack o inte-rest in their young people. In France and nearlyeverywhere in Europe, as well as in the Westernworld, an increasingly palpable malaise comesbetween older and younger generations. Asshown in our study, contentious issues are mul-tiplying between youths and their elders, givingrise to potentially more bitter quarrels, especiallywith regard to pensions and the tax burden. Forus Europeans, the question is particularly thornybecause our declining demographic status due toour populations reduced weight on the globalpopulation scale and, worse still, its now-hastenedageing actor, aects our young peoples situationeven more. These demographic eects are beingcompounded by those o the new economic order.Wealth and power are starting to be redistributedto the benet o emerging powers, whose popu-lations are oten much younger, more optimisticand nearly always much more pro-active. In suchcountries, serious tensions are also impactinginter-generational relations and young people,through the values which they uphold and arm,

    are certainly helping to hasten these changes.

    Globalisation is offering newgenerations the goals and thedrive which the nations havelost

    Great periods o history are those which oerpossibilities. They thereore encompass an inevi-table combination o dangers and prospects. Asthis study will show, young people do not conceal

    their misgivings or their problems, but most displayan optimism which clashes with our widespread

    glumness. Most o them believe that their lie is satis-ying. Naturally there are exceptions, but the latterdo not challenge this initial encouraging opinion.On a personal level, all o the youths tell us thatthey believe their uture is bright (70%). On thispoint, as on many others, young Brazilians (87%)and Indians (90%) indicate the most unequivocaloptimism. Nonetheless, there are substantiallyewer youths who believe that their countrysuture is bright (44%). In this regard, the highestlevels o optimism are once again ound amongthe Brazilians (72%), Chinese (82%) and Indians(83%). Our study reveals a crucial act: althougha majority o youths are not satised with thegeneral situation in their country (61%), they doclaim to be satised with the age in which they live(59%). Their country may disappoint them but

    their era consoles them. Political leaders shouldbe aware that there is critical insight to be gainedrom taking this split into account. It is as i thecountries, as a result o their political, economic,social and perhaps even more so culturalstatus, due to a lack o ambition, were hinderingtheir nations youths despite the latters intrinsicdesire and resolve to gain a oothold in a new liewhich globalisation has endowed with the ambi-tion and drive lacking in many nations. Today, ormost o the youths surveyed, the course o historyinspires incomparably more trust than electoral

    platorms or government agendas. Society holdsmore promise than the state.

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    Moreover, youths like their age all the more sincethey eel they are being called upon to play a moredecisive role in it: the number o Chinese (64%),Brazilians (62%) and Indians (84%) who eel thisway ar outnumber the Europeans (55%) and theFrench (47%). We can catch a glimpse o the newworlds traits through the content and thrust onearly all o these youths opinions.

    China epitomises the21st century

    The responses o Chinese youths perectly illus-trate their oresightedness. It is the Chinese whoare most in avour o globalisation: 91% o themview it as an opportunity (as opposed to 71% o

    Americans and 65% o Europeans). They believethat their country has a bright uture (82%) to amuch greater extent than the Americans (37%).They think that their country will play a moreimportant role in the uture (84%), an opinionshared by 47% o Americans, while only 35% othe latter and 19% o the Chinese think that theUnited States will play a more important role inthe uture.The Chinese are convinced that they will havea good job in the uture (85% vs. 76% orAmericans). They are proud o the rich people

    in their country (57% as compared to 31%o Americans). Asked what they most hope to

    achieve during the next teen years, they answerearning a lot o money (64% vs. 53% oAmericans), owning a house or fat (63% vs. 55%o Americans) and starting their own company(40% vs. 17% o Americans). When asked toname the sector in which they would like to work,the Chinese are the most numerous to choose ban-king and nance (41% vs. 13% o Americans).As to what qualities they think their childrenshould be the most encouraged to learn at home,they choose responsibility (65%), Independence(58% vs. 22% o Americans) and honesty (56%),whereas only 6% o them mention obedience (vs.19% o Americans). It should be recalled thatChina, as a single-child country, avours perso-nality traits which, among the youths surveyed,may stem rom their belie that their lie is in their

    own hands (83%) or that they always do whatthey want (81% vs. 52% o Americans).Yet there are no doubt other reasons behind theirclaim that eeling ree is one o the actors whichbest correspond to their idea o a good lie (40%) a record level ar above that o the Americans(21%) and Europeans (22%) or example theirbelie that it is acceptable to break the law toght injustice (47%, vs. 42% o Americans), orin making the use o social networks (44%) mostimportant among their Internet activities. Lastly,the Chinese not only indicate that, or them, the

    greatest threat to society is pollution (51% vs.29% o Americans), but they are also the only

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    How world youths perceive globalisation

    China 9% 91%

    India 12% 87%

    Brazil 18% 81%

    South Arica 21% 77%

    Sweden 23% 76%

    Japan 25% 75%

    Finland 25% 74%

    Mexico 26% 73%

    Australia 26% 73%

    United States 28% 71%

    Russia 28% 71%

    Estonia 30% 70%

    Canada 29% 70% Spain 30% 69%

    Poland 30% 69%

    Italy 31% 68%

    Romania 31% 67%

    Israel 31% 66%

    Germany 34% 66%

    United Kingdom 34% 65%

    Hungary 34% 64%

    France 47% 52%

    Turkey 49% 49%

    Morocco 50% 49%

    Greece 50% 49%

    Globalisationis a threat

    Globalisationis an opportunity

    12 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    ones, other than the Canadians, who name thisthreat as their greatest concern. While this surveydoes not imply that Chinese youths are blissullycontent only 37% say that they are satised

    with their nancial situation (as opposed to 40%o Americans), 45% with their work (vs. 50% oAmericans) and 34% with their health it doesattest to the powerul and growing infuencewhich these young people are having on Chinasentire society. Considering its enormous popula-tion, this trend is bound to have an impact on therest o the world.

    Internationalised powers,globalised youths

    The aim o Fondation pour linnovation poli-tiques survey is to present the way in which newgenerations perceive globalisation. This viewpoint

    makes it possible to grasp the unique power o thephase in which humanity has just embarked. It iscommon to read that this new era which has justbegun will be marked by the assertiveness o new

    powers. To be air, this remains a non-exhaustivestudy. It is not meant to be a precise gauge o ourtimes. The issue o State power, or that o the dis-tribution o wealth, cannot be the sole purview othis study, unless we limit the description o thephenomenon to what must be termed internatio-nalisation.Yet internationalisation is not globalisation.Internationalisation is a phenomenon charac-terised by the planetary exposure o each o theStates and most o their businesses, political parties,churches and associations. Internationalisation

    was thus already underway in the late 19th cen-tury.The invention o the telephone and concept otelecommunicationshas paved the way or a post-

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    13Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    internationalisation phase. It is telecommunica-tions which has enabled internationalisation to atlast becomeglobalisation. The planetary integra-tion o governments, businesses and organisations

    has intensied in a second movement involvingthe integration o individuals and, more impor-tantly, their consciousness. The youths surveyedhere possess this new consciousness, which hasbecome inseparable rom real-world experience.It is the integration o individuals consciousnessinto the global system which distinguishesglobali-sation rom internationalisation.Inormation and communication technologies, theInternet, and mobile terminals with tactile inter-aces are obviously the vectors or this subsequentphase o our collective integration into a common

    history. Financial crises, pandemic diseases,global warming and migrations constitute somany examples o challenges calling or commonregulatory mechanisms. Virtual social networks,liberal individualism, consumerism, sharedcultural works and the global fow o emotionsprovide the substance and energy o this universalcommunity, helping to make apparent and nearlytangible this new human condition. Thus, whenyouths are asked to say which collective actorsmost contribute to their identity, humanity (81%)is chosen ar more oten than nationality (70%),ethnic group (53%) or religion (43%), which areoten expected to count more.When asked to pick the top three qualities, rom alist o thirteen, which children should be the mostencouraged to learn at home, two clearly take thelead: honesty (58%) and responsibility (55%). Itis noteworthy that, other than Moroccan youths,who believe religion is the most important (56%),these rankings are the same or each o the youthscomprising the panel. Among the underlyingtrends uprooting our world, a consciousnessunprecedented in scope and content is gainingground a sort o human race consciousness

    which is replacing the ormer and greatly wea-kened class consciousness, and the old but stillvery strong national consciousness, possiblyheralding a new planetary policy, the so-calledcosmopolicy which is gradually emerging indirect response to the universalist and humanistphilosophical systems developed by the greatWestern philosophical tradition. It is through thecollective mind that the old West is still retainingits eminent position and playing a major role inthe new world, not despite o, but because o, glo-balisation.

    The worlds youth ispromoting globalisation

    The power o globalisation cannot be understood

    without taking into account how committed toit young people are. The scepticism it inspires insome countries, including France, so ar representsthe exception. From the centre o the Westernworld to the core o the European Union, ourndings bring to light the possibility o a splitopinion: on one side determined youths who havealready adopted the worlds new pace, and on theother, reluctant and earul youths whose reserva-tions should not be encouraged.Unortunately, French young people are amongthose who have reservations. Yet that does not

    prevent them rom liking the age in which theylive, thereby maniesting an open-mindednesswhich should rst be recorded and acknowledgedand then be vigorously ostered. The reluctance oa ew Westerners who have ully prospered maysuggest the bitterness o losers rather than a orcecapable o acting as a counterbalance or to pro-mote their own conception o the world. Judgingrom this surveys ndings, it is evident that theonly nations which will have a serious impact onglobalisation will be those which actively parti-cipate in it, which means that we need to allowour youths to commit themselves to it and helpthem do so. The young people surveyed by TNSOpinion were born between 1981 and 1994. Theoldest were not even 10 when the Berlin Wall ell;the youngest have never seen anything but pictureso it while it was still standing. All o them grewup and were educated in a world already globa-lised. They thereore comprise the rst authenticglobalisation generations. When they will havetaken on amily, proessional and political res-ponsibilities, they will be the rst not to haveexperienced a world still amiliar to their parents.Since the new generations are acquiring a more

    in-depth knowledge o the rules and principles othe new world, it is by encouraging them to takepower, and by oering them prospects whichthey can nd credible that European nations willbe able to retain their role in the workings o theworld. The European nations worthy o the intel-lectual heritage they claim to possess, and whosedecline they deplore with growing requency, arealso those which hope to see their children occupya position o leadership in the world and activelycontribute to humanitys progress. By means othis survey, we hope that the Fondation pour lin-

    novation politique will be making a contributionto what has become a necessary eort to raisepublic awareness.

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    Methodologyof the survey

    and this paper

    The survey 2011: The Worlds Youth wasdeveloped by the Fondation pour linnovationpolitique. The TNS Opinion group, entrustedwith carrying it out, polled 32,714 people basedupon national samplings consisting o 1,000individuals aged 16 to 29, as well as an addi-tional per-country sampling o 300 individualsaged 30 to 50. The aim o the second samplingwas to allow comparisons between young gene-rations and the rst o the older generations. Thequestionnaire was administered in 25 countriesand in each o the corresponding languages: 20languages in all. It consisted o 242 items. Thedata was collected over a ve-week period inorder to neutralise cyclical eects (between 16June and 22 July 2010). The age, gender anddomicile quota method was used to ensure ade-quately representative samplings.

    However, since the survey was administeredvia an electronic questionnaire, the emergingcountries samplings are more representative othe populations wealthier categories. In thesecountries, the respondents thereore tend tobelong more to the social categories most incontact with globalisation. The survey coversboth opinion and behavioural issues. It is sup-plemented by socio-demographic data collectedto acilitate the analysis o social characteristics

    in addition to national characteristics. It shouldbe pointed out that some questions dealing withreligious aliations, deemed sensitive could notbe asked o Moroccans, not or any censorshipreasons but because so many o them reusedto respond that we decided to withdraw thesequestions rom the Moroccan questionnaire.The question about how important the act obeing European is or ones identity was onlyasked to nationals originating rom EuropeanUnion countries. Similarly, the one dealing withhow well the recipient knows English was notasked in English-speaking countries. In most othe questions, respondents were asked to answerby choosing between our levels o intensity:Totally (agree), Tend to (agree), Tend to(disagree) and Totally (disagree) to qualiy,or example, a particular satisaction, trust or

    optimism level.

    In this paper, we present the ndings by aggre-gating, on one side, the Totally (agree) andTend to (agree) answers and, on the otherhand, the Tend not to (agree) and Totally(disagree) answers. In some cases, the indivi-duals surveyed were asked to choose betweentwo or three responses. For example, we askedthem i they were using their mobile phone tosur the Internet and the response choices were

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    Yes or No. Similarly, they could answer thequestion concerning the uture role o majorpowers, respondents could answer by choosingbetween a ar more important role, an iden-tical role, or a ar less important role.Lastly, in other questions, respondents wereasked to select up to three choices rom listswhich included 9 to 15 possible answers. Insuch a case, our results will mention a percen-tage o the recipients who choose a particularoption such as earning a lot o money, romamong their three top priorities or the next 15years. The graphics are based upon nationaldierences, gender or age. The data they showrepresent an aggregate o somewhat similar res-ponses , or example: Totally agree or Tendto agree. Thereore, by way o example, whenwe include a graph illustrating how the item I

    am satised with my work was ranked, thisgraph shows the combined responses I amTotally satised and I am Fairly satisedwith my work.The European mean was devised to aggregatethe data rom the twelve EU member countriesrepresented in the survey. It was weighted accor-ding to the respective national populations.It is impossible to use the same procedure ona global scale within the ramework o thissurvey because o the signicant disparities in

    population size between the countries: the onlyway to determine the weight represented by thepopulation o these 25 countries would be toeliminate all, or nearly all, o the countries bysubstituting the demographic weight o onlytwo o them: China and India. In some cases,we used a simple arithmetic mean. Since thismean would have the eect o assigning thesame weight to each o the national populationsdespite the signicant dierences between them,we kept to a strict minimum the extent to whichwe used it. Under such conditions, any reerenceto this mean retains an indicative value.We ocused our analysis on the responses oyoung people (16 to 29), by limiting the compa-rison with those o their elders (30 to 50 year-olds) in cases revealing striking dierences, orwhich dealt with issues or which a cross-gene-

    rational comparison was called or, such as theone about pensions.Lastly, expressions such as Chinese youthsor young French, or the Americans, whichwere used without any mention o age, alwaysreer to the respondents aged 16 to 29.

    Grazyna MARCINkOWSkA

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    India

    Australia

    Sweden

    Russia

    Israel

    Hungary

    China

    Poland

    Romania

    Japan

    Finland

    Estonia

    Turkey

    South Africa

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    NEWPERSPECTIVESON A

    GLOBALISEDWORLD

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    Text highlight: Among Indian youths, 84% say they are satisfied with the age in which they live and

    42% claim that what happens in the world has an impact on their life.

    The age in which we live; our lives

    90 %

    55 %

    20 %55% 90 %

    What happens in the world has an impact on my lie

    I am satisfed with the age in which I live

    United States 68%, 70%

    Spain36%, 66% United Kingdom64%, 67%Italy 38%, 66%

    Turkey38%, 60%

    South Africa75%, 63%

    India84%, 42%

    Russia 66%, 52%Japan 33%, 53%

    Israel 69%, 43%

    China

    64%,

    57%

    Poland

    78%,

    59%

    Canada

    75%,

    62%

    France47%, 63% Germany64%, 66%

    Brazil62%, 64%

    Hungary56%, 54%

    Estonia74%, 69%

    Sweden76%, 49%

    Finland74%, 49%

    Morocco

    61%,

    41%

    Romania

    47%,

    46%

    Mexico

    30%,

    66%

    Greece23%, 74%

    Australia

    75%,

    63%

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    Young peopleare at ease with

    globalisationEmerging countries youthsfully accept globalisation

    Globalisation is considered to be an oppor-tunity by 91% o the Chinese, 87% o theIndian and 81% o the Brazilian respondents,while one out o two young Greeks see it as athreat, as do 47% o the French. Moroccan andTurkish youths are the only ones in developingcountries who are split on the question (49%see it as an opportunity). Among rich countries,Scandinavian youths massively perceive globa-lisation as an opportunity (76% o the Swedesand 74% o the Finns).Despite the national dierences just highlighted,the results o our survey show that there is avirtually universal tendency among youngpeople to accept globalisation. In Europe, the30 to 50 age group seems to have the mostreservations about globalisation, the generationgap being particularly wide in countries whoseyoung populations are the most sceptical, such

    as France and Greece (+ 11 points), as well asGermany (+ 11) and Australia (+ 10).

    Young people in emerging countries view globa-lisations symbols as avourable, as shown by thetrust o the Chinese (62%) in the World TradeOrganization (WTO) or that o the Indians(75%) in multinational companies. Such trustlevels are not ound in long-time developedcountries: only 37% o the Americans and 40%o European youths expressed trust in the WTO.

    Ever younger and more mobile

    Twice as many European youths as others havebeen abroad during the last 12 months (49%as compared to 25%). The wish to live in ano-ther country is particularly widespread amongRomanians (41%), Greeks (35%) and Estonians(31%). Overall, the 16 to 19 age group (27%)is more inclined to change countries than the40 to 50 age group (17%). In non-English-speaking countries, the young peoples inclina-tion to travel is conrmed by their command o

    English: 62% o the 16 to 19 age group claimto be able to converse in this language, as com-pared to only 36% o the 40 to 50 year-olds.

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    Perception Germany France GreeceofGlobalization Threat Opportunity Threat Opportunity Threat Opportunity

    16 to 29 age group 34 % 66 % 47 % 52 % 50 % 49 %

    30 to 50 age group 43 % 55 % 59 % 41 % 62 % 38 %

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    83%

    53%

    61%

    49%

    25%

    17%

    Private life:(1) I am satisfied with my life as a whole (2) My future looks bright(3) I am satisfied with my work (4) I am confident that I will have a good job in the future

    Country:(5) I am satisfied with the general situation in my country (6) My countrys future looks bright

    Happiness with ones private life, concern for ones country

    Personal life

    1

    2

    work

    3

    4

    country

    5

    6

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    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    Home Sweet Home

    Eighty-three percent o French young peoplesay that they are satised with their lives, which is

    higher than the European mean (78%). In Europe,

    only young Poles say that they are more satised

    (85%). Worldwide, only young Israelis (83%) match

    the French youths satisaction level. Similarly, the

    French are overwhelmingly satised with their

    health (83%), leisure time (73%), riends (79%),

    and amily (85%).

    When French young people are asked which actors

    best correspond to their idea o a good lie, their

    responses are not earning a lot o money (14%),

    nor eeling ree (18%); the answer most oten

    chosen is starting a amily (47%), a percentage

    much higher than the European mean (39%) and

    only matched or exceeded worldwide by the Poles

    (48%), the Estonians and the Russians (47%) and

    the Moroccans (46%). Likewise, when asked what

    they hope to achieve during the next 15 years, the

    French reply owning a house or fat in propor-

    tions (68%) which constitute the world record. The

    second most common reply is having children

    (58%), a percentage which positions French youths

    in second place behind the Russians.

    French young people seem

    ill-at-ease in their time and in the

    world in which they will be living

    Results change drastically when respondents

    are no longer asked to rate their own situation,

    but rather that o their country: only 25% o French

    youths are satised with the situation in their

    country, while 71% are not satised with it. True,

    this is scarcely more than the young Europeans

    mean score (69% are not satised with the general

    situation in their country).

    The position o young French respondents is trou-

    bling i we consider that 55% o young Europeans

    claim to be satised with the age in which they

    France

    Home sweet home, even in hard times:French youth

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    83%

    73%

    45%

    40%

    25%

    33%

    53%

    56%

    49%

    71%

    17%

    25%

    The French are more satisfied and the Germans more confident

    I am satisfied with

    my life as a whole

    I am satisfied withmy financial situation

    I am satisfied with thegeneral situation in my country

    My future looks bright

    I am confident that I willhave a good job in the future

    My countrys futurelooks bright

    France Germany

    23Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    live, as opposed to 47% o the French. In line with

    this gap between their concern or the collecti-

    vity and their happiness with their private lives,

    amily comes beore nationality, or when

    asked how important they eel various actors are

    or their identity, French youths choose riendsrst (89%), then amily (88%), and only last o

    all, nationality (63%). It is noteworthy that, when

    asked about their identity, only 42% o the French

    young people choose as most important the act

    o being European, as compared to a 48% ave-

    rage among other youths in the European Union. It

    should be mentioned that this split, which results

    rom higher scores assigned to private mem-

    bership and aliation categories, is shared by

    young people in other European countries. Only the

    young Swedes and Finns seem to enjoy both the

    private and collective aspects o happiness.

    French youths are amongthe worlds most pessimistic

    Scarcely one out o two young French youths

    (53%) believe that their personal uture looks

    bright, as opposed to 61% o their European coun-

    terparts. Only young Greeks and Japanese (43%),

    Hungarians (49%), Italians and Spaniards (50%) are

    even less optimistic. Yet when French youths were

    asked whether they think their countrys uture

    looks bright, 75% gave a negative response! It is

    telling to compare the 17% o French respondents

    who think their countrys uture looks bright with

    the gure or the Chinese (82%) or Indians (83%).

    On a dierent note, but with somewhat similar

    results, 70% o young people surveyed worldwide

    agree that they are condent that they will have a

    good job in the uture, while only 65% o respon-dents in Europe and just 49% in France agree.

    Among the twenty-ve countries covered in our

    survey, only young Greeks had as pessimistic an

    outlook about their own countrys uture. All other

    European youths, and even the young Japanese,

    are more optimistic. France thereore has one o

    the worlds most pessimistic youths.

    One o the youths most earulo globalisation

    One distinctive trait o French youths is also

    their relative scepticism concerning globalisation:

    52% o the French surveyed state that globalisa-

    tion is an opportunity, a gure much lower than

    the European mean (65%). In Europe, only young

    Greeks scored lower than that (49%). Outside o

    Europe, and on the same level as the Greeks, only

    the Turkish and Moroccan youths (49%) share this

    reluctance. Everywhere else in the world, young

    people overwhelmingly view globalisation as an

    opportunity, including Germany (66%), Italy (68%),

    Spain (69%), Sweden (76%), South Arica (77%),

    the United States (71%) and, as might be expected,

    Brazil (81%), India (87%) and China (91%).

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    Lack of confidence in Greece

    70 %

    35%

    0 %

    Greece European mean

    Satisaction with thecountrys general situation

    Confdence in having agood job in the uture

    Trust in thenational government

    27%

    65%

    25%

    47%

    7%

    43%

    21%

    37%

    Trust in the EU

    24 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    No country better exemplies the eects o the

    economic climate on public opinion than Greece.

    Seventy-our percent o young Greeks admit that

    what happens in the world has a signicant impact

    on their lives, as compared to the European mean

    o 63%. It is interesting to note to what extent the

    economic crisis made young Greeks pessimistic:

    only 42% o them say that they are satised with

    their work, 30% with their nances, 23% with the

    age in which they live and 7% with the general

    situation in their country. Forty-nine percent o

    them are pessimistic about their personal uture

    and 80% about their countrys uture. Moreover,

    only 43% o young Greek respondents are con-

    dent that they will have a good job in the uture

    (as compared to 65% o the Europeans). More than

    one-third (35%) would like to live abroad. Lastly,their level o trust in institutions is especially low,

    whether with regard to their government (21%),

    parliament (18%) or media (19%). The trust that

    they place in international bodies is scarcely any

    higher, whether concerning the European Union

    (37%), the United Nations (36%), the World Trade

    Organisation (28%), NGOs (29%) or multinational

    companies (22%). However, Greek youths still trust

    the United Nations (36%) much more than their

    elders do (23%).

    In general, sharp dierences can be seen between

    the 16 to 29 and 39 to 50 age groups: 20% o the

    16 to 29 age group say that they are proud o the

    rich people in their country, as compared to 9% o

    the 30 to 50-year-olds. Twenty-three percent o the

    16 to 29 age group preer paying the least taxes

    possible in exchange or a weaker welare system

    (as compared to 15% o the 30 to 50 year-olds).

    On the other hand, more young people (67%) thantheir elders (58%) eel that they should have the

    right to reuse a job which does not correspond to

    their qualications without having to lose unem-

    ployment benets.

    Young Grees into the storm

    Greece

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    25Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    Fity-eight percent o the young people surveyed

    worldwide predict that China will have a ar more

    important role to play in the uture, trailing ar

    behind the European Union (36%), India (31%),the United States (29%), Russia (28%) and Brazil

    (20%). Young Chinese themselves are aware that

    the eyes o the world are riveted on their country:

    they unequivocally eel that globalisation is an

    opportunity (91%, which constitutes a record).

    Eighty-two percent o Chinese youths believe that

    their countrys uture looks bright, while 61% say

    that they are satised with the general situation in

    their country.

    Although they eel more optimistic about their per-

    sonal uture (73%) than that o their elders (51%),

    this score nonetheless remains lower than that

    recorded by young respondents o other emer-

    ging powers (90% or young Indians and 87% or

    Brazilians), and or Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian

    post-industrial countries, such as the Canadians

    (79%) and the Swedes (75%). Similarly, the Chinese

    youths levels o satisaction with their work (45%)

    and their nances (37%) are ar lower than those

    o the Indians. The answers given by the young

    Chinese may be attributed in part to their cultural

    belies which prohibit them rom showing any

    satisaction with regard to their own condition, or

    to the potential eects o sel-censorship concer-

    ning government-related questions. They may also

    refect the idea that the benets o globalisation

    are primarily elt at the macro-economic level.

    Chinas entry into globalisation may well lead

    to an upheaval with regard to its young peoplesvalues and aspirations. Indeed, in this long-stan-

    ding Communist society, it is surprising to see that

    57% o these youths arm that they are proud o

    the rich people in their country, and 34% think that

    earning a lot o money corresponds to their idea o

    a good lie. Similarly, a particularly large number

    o this group (58%) choose Independence as one

    o the qualities which children should be the most

    encouraged to learn at home. Forty percent o them

    say that a good lie is predicated upon eeling ree,

    the highest gure among youths worldwide. There

    is no social atalism among Chinese young people,

    whose members claim that they always do what

    they want (81%) and overwhelmingly believe that

    people can change society (84%) and that people

    have the opportunity to choose their own lives

    (83%). While, among Chinese youths, globalisation

    does not translate into the hyper-optimism which

    can be observed in their Indian counterparts, eco-

    nomic openness has obviously been accompanied

    by a proound transormation o their value system.

    Although such results are more representative o

    a wealthy ringe o Chinese society, they are still

    unexpected and merit a more in-depth study.

    Chinese youths:From economic to cultural openness

    91%ofChinese consider that globalisationis an opportunity

    China

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    26 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    DoEuropeanyouthshave doubts

    about the Union?

    A sense of attachmentto Europe is no substitutefor national identity

    At rst glance, the survey results seem to indi-cate that the European Union has not comple-tely won over young Europeans. For example,48% o them rate the act o being European asone o the three least important identity actors,ollowed by their ethnic group (45%) and reli-gion (35%). Nationality is given a much higherrating (66%). The young Poles assign natio-nality the highest level o importance or theiridentity (77%), while the Germans consider itleast important (56%).Europe is not making much headway with theFrench: 54% o them consider the Europeanaspect o their identity as not important. Eastern

    Europeans results are quite dierent. The acto being European matters to the Romanians(61%), the Hungarians (56%) and the Poles(55%). Being European is no substitute ornational identity, since nationality ranks highamong the Poles (77%), the Romanians (69%)and the Hungarians (68%); i.e., the result ishigher than the European mean (66%).As might be expected, pro-European sentimentis particularly weak in the United Kingdom:

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    >>>

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    11%

    20%

    10%

    30%

    8%

    31%

    8%32%

    10%

    39%

    12%

    43%

    9%

    44%

    14%

    45%

    30%

    62%

    Turkish youths euro-scepticism

    India

    Israel

    South Africa

    China

    United States

    Morocco

    Brazil

    Russia

    Turey

    % of the youths thinkthat the EU will have a farless important role

    % of the youthsdo not trust the EU

    27Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    Our survey revealed a deep trust crisis among

    Turks with regard to the European Union: 62% o

    the 16 to 29 age group (and 64% o the 30 to 50

    year-olds) do not trust the EU. In act, young Turks

    are the most distrustul o European institutions,more so than the Greeks (60%). Even though

    Turkey is still a candidate or accession, its young

    people are the most inclined to believe that the

    EU will play a ar less important role in the uture:

    30% o them share this negative opinion, a score

    ar higher than that o the Americans (10%), the

    Chinese (8%), the Brazilians (9%) or the Moroccans

    (12%). It is true that, in Turkey, scepticism about

    the European Unions uture role is stronger among

    the 30 to 50 age group (43%).

    Distrust o the EU is accompanied by a distrust o

    the United Nations, which is expressed by young

    respondents (55%) as well as by their elders (63%).

    The young Turks euroscepticism thereore refects

    a global view o the world. For example, they havemixed opinions about globalisation: 49% o them

    think that globalisation is a threat, and 49% see it

    as an opportunity. Similarly, 27% o them oresee

    a decline in the uture role o the United States

    their long-time privileged ally a belie which

    only the Russians are more prone to share (34%).

    Everything seems to indicate that young Turks

    were turning their attention elsewhere: according

    to them, the two countries whose roles will be

    more important in the uture than today are Russia

    (45%) and, to an even greater extent, China (62%).

    Turish youthsno longer believe in Europe

    Turkey

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    28 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    the act o being European is avoured by onlyone-third o the young respondents, and by aneven lesser number o their elders (29%), whichmay suggest that an increasing number o Britishyouths believe that being European is important.

    Fewer than one out of twoyoung Europeans trust theEuropean Union

    Only 47% o young Europeans say that theytrust the European Union, which attests to anindecisive adhesion by the Erasmus genera-tion. Trust is greater among the new membercountries youths, whether Romanian (61%),Estonian (61%), Polish (60%) or Hungarian(55%). In contrast to the new EU citizensenthusiasm or European integration, WesternEurope youths are proving to be sceptical, withonly Italians indicating more trust in the EU

    (50%) than distrust (44%). However, youngEuropeans trust the EU more than their eldersdo by a seven-point mean gap, while each othese generations assign a certain importance,as ar as their identity is concerned, to beingEuropean.

    Young Europeansnevertheless anticipate amore important role for theEuropean Union

    Only 12% o young Europeans believe that theEuropean Union will play a less important role inthe uture, while 38% anticipate that it will playa comparable role to that which it plays today,and 39% that it will play a ar more importantrole. These predictions place the Union imme-diately behind China, which 58% o the youthsanticipate will play a more important role than itdoes today, ollowed by India (31%), the UnitedStates (29%), Russia (28%) and Brazil (20%).Young Eastern Europeans are particularly opti-mistic about the EUs uture role, which is antici-pated to be more important than today by 62%o the Romanians, 52% o the Poles and 42%o the Hungarians, while the French (29%) andthe Greeks (32%) are clearly less enthusiastic. A

    relatively large number o Italians think that theUnions role will decline (17% as opposed to themean score o 12% among young Europeans);yet they stand out or having the highest extento trust in the Union among young WesternEuropeans.Such results challenge the contention that euros-cepticism prevails among the newest MemberStates youths. To the contrary, our surveyshows that such sentiment persists among theyouths o the countries which have been Unionmembers the longest, such as France, the United

    Kingdom and Greece.

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    >>>

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    Euro-sceptics and Euro-enthusiasts

    Euro-enthusiasts

    Euro-sceptics

    70 %

    50 %

    30 %

    30 %

    70%

    Being European is an important factor for ones personal identity (x axis )Trust in the EU (y axis )The EU will have a far more important role to play (size of the bubble)

    Text highlight: Among young Estonians, 51% claim that being European plays an important role in their

    identity, 61% trust the EU, and 39% feel that the EU is going to play a far more important role in thefuture.

    Spain 48%, 49%, 43%

    Estonia 51%, 61%, 39%

    United Kingdom33%, 35%, 34%

    Italy 55%, 50%, 32%

    Germany 49%, 42%, 40%France 42%, 43%, 29%

    Sweden 47%, 47%, 41%

    Poland 55%, 60%, 52%

    Romania 61%, 61%, 62%

    Finland 51%, 43%, 34%

    Importance o being European

    Trust in the EU

    Greece 49%, 37%, 32%

    Hungary 56%, 55%, 42%

    29Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Emerging countries youthsdo not distrust the EuropeanUnion

    The European Union enjoys the support o aportion o the youths living outside o Europe.For example, the Mexicans (51%), the Israelis(45%), the Moroccans (44%) and the Chinese(40%) are more numerous than the Europeans

    themselves in envisaging a more importantrole or the EU in the uture. Similarly, 73%

    o the Indians trust the Union, ollowed by theIsraelis (59%), the South Aricans (57%) andthe Chinese (54%). On the other hand, theRussians (42%) tend not to trust the Unionand only 26% o them see it as playing a moreimportant role than it does today. This distrustis shared by the Turks, who seem disillusionedin this regard. The European partners reversal

    about Turkeys membership might account orthis eeling.

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

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    Germany 32%

    Pollution is one of the greatest threats to society

    60 %

    80 %

    70 %

    60 %

    50 %

    30%

    30 %

    20 %

    10 %

    0 %

    % of youths who stated that pollution is one of the three greatest threats to society

    (of the nine available choices)

    United Kingdom 22%

    Romania 32%Italy 45%

    Poland 18% Australia 39% China 51%Canada 49%

    Finland 37%

    Japan 22% Hungary 39%

    Estonia 24%

    Greece 33%

    Brazil 45%Russia 36%

    Mexico 38%Sweden 46%

    India 46%United States 29%

    Morocco 31%

    Turkey 16%Spain 32%

    France 40%Israel 24%

    South Africa 28%

    30 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

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    31Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Pollutionis of greater concern to theChinese, Indians and Braziliansthan to the Europeans

    Chinese youths are the mostconcerned about pollution

    When asked what they consider the grea-test threats to society, our survey showsthat pollution is cited by one-third o theEuropeans (32%), but even more so by theBrazilians (45%), the Indians (46%) andthe Chinese (51%). In China, young peopleare more concerned about pollution (51%)than poverty and amine (43%), as areIndian youths in similar proportions (46%,as opposed to 40%), while Brazilian youthsare more concerned about poverty and amine(61%) than pollution (45%), like most o theworlds other youths.

    Among European youths, it isthe Swedes who are the most

    concerned about pollution

    In Europe, the young people most concernedabout pollution are the Swedes (46%), theItalians (45%), the French (40%) and theHungarians (39%). The least concerned arethe British (22%) and the Poles (18%). In

    the world beyond the countries mentioned, itis the Canadians (49%) and the Australians(39%) who indicate the greatest concern orthe environment with, on the opposite side,the Israelis (24%), the Japanese (22%) andthe Turks (16%).

    Climate change is of lesserconcern than unemployment

    When presenting a second list o the greatestthreats which includes the response climatechange,1 the same distribution o apprehen-sions can be seen among the worlds youths:the Europeans concern level (23%) is muchlower than that o the Chinese (35%), whoare surpassed in terms o their ear only bythe Canadians (36%). Within all groups, thegreatest concerns are war, unemployment, ter-

    rorism, amine, and the collapse o the inter-national nancial system.The concern expressed by emerging countriesyouths constitutes one aspect o globalisationwhich had not been anticipated by proponentso the extreme climate change scenario.

    New Perspectives on a Globalised World

    1. We decided to assess the extent o respondents concern about threats to the environment by asking them twodierent questions: the frst oered hal o the sampling the response pollution among a list o proposed choices; thesecond oered the other hal o the sampling a list which included the response climate change.

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    33Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    MINDSETSAND

    LIFESTYLES

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    My future My countrysCountry looks bright future

    looks brightIndia 90 % 83 %Brazil 87 % 72 %United States 81 % 37 %Mexico 81 % 23 %Russia 81 % 59 %Israel 81 % 49 %South Africa 81 % 43 %Canada 79 % 65 %Australia 78 % 63 %Morocco 77 % 67 %Finland 75 % 61 %Poland 75 % 37 %Sweden 75 % 63 %United kingdom 74 % 34 %Turey 74 % 43 %

    China 73 % 82 %Romania 70 % 25 %Estonia 69 % 39 %Germany 56 % 25 %France 53 % 17 %Spain 50 % 20 %Italy 50 % 22 %Hungary 49 % 25 %Greece 43 % 17 %Japan 43 % 24 %

    Young peoples optimism*

    * Positive responses to the questionsDoes your future look bright? and

    Does your countrys future look bright?

    34 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Geographical distribution andtypology of optimism:three different

    categoriesofyouthsGeographical scopeof the crisis

    The young peoples responses to the questionsconcerning the uture are obviously aectedby each countrys economic situation. Thus,traces o the nancial crisis can be ound in theact that, on average, ar ewer young Greeks(43%) than Europeans agree that their personaluture looks bright. There are also, on average,ewer Greeks (17%) than Europeans (27%)who think their countrys uture looks bright.This pessimism is shared by young French(17%), Spaniards (20%), Italians (22%),Germans and Hungarians (25%), not to men-tion the Japanese (24%). It is in stark contrast

    to the Scandinavians optimism (Finns, 61%;Swedes, 63%), Canadians (65%), Australians(63%) and, to an even greater extent, that othe Indians (83%), the Chinese (82%) and theBrazilians (72%). It is thereore the youthso major emerging powers, as well as o thecountries in the oreront o new technologieswho view the uture with condence. On theother hand, it is evident that the relative opti-mism o the young Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons is tempered by a particularly high levelo Do not know answers concerning the

    uture role o major powers. Moreover, they

    Mindsets and Liestyles

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    100 %

    50 %

    0 %

    My future and that of my country

    0 % 100%

    Text highlight: Among young Turks, 43% say that their countrys future is bright and 64% think

    that they will have a good job in the future.

    My countrys uturelooks bright

    Do not now Optimists

    Pessimists Do not now

    United Kingdom 34%, 70%

    Finland 61%, 71%

    Israel 49%, 76%

    Morocco 67%, 72%

    Brazil 72%, 78%

    Sweden 63%, 66%

    Canada 65%, 77%

    Australia 63%, 76%

    Greece 17%, 43%

    Japan 24%, 32%

    Hungary 25%53%

    I am confdent that I will havea good job in the uture

    Estonia

    39%,

    72%

    Italy

    22%,

    62%

    Russia

    59%,

    80%

    South Africa

    43%, 82%

    United

    States

    37%, 76%

    China

    82%,

    85%Spain

    20%,

    67%

    Poland

    37%,

    71%

    France

    17%,

    49%

    Germany

    25%,

    71%

    Mexico 23%, 84%

    Romania 25%, 77%

    India

    83%,92%

    Turkey 43%, 64%

    35Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    are less likely to be keeping up with the newsvia the Internet: 26% o the Canadians andSwedes and 36% o the Finns, as opposed to50% o the Greeks, 52% o the Spaniards, and58% o the Italians. Similarly, only 49% o theScandinavians believe that what happens inthe world has much impact on their lives, asopposed to 74% o the Greeks and 66% o theSpaniards and the Italians. One might thereore

    wonder whether the Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons relative optimism might be imputableto their lesser interest in public aairs.

    Enthusiastic young people

    Several o the questions asked may be used toassess the extent to which the worlds youthsare optimistic. The rst deals with the prospectso having a good job in the uture; the secondconcerns their countrys uture and whether ornot it looks bright; and lastly, the third questionasks whether or not they agree that their uture

    looks bright.The results reveal an initial geographical andhuman set o data characterised by a highdegree o optimism as recorded in the res-ponses to the three questions. These are the

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    >>>

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    36 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    enthusiastic youths. They include two sub-sets:the rst corresponds to the youths o the keyemerging powers Brazil, India, China, Russiaand Morocco; the second consists o the youthso nations which have already attained a highlevel o wealth; i.e., Canada, Australia, Israel,Finland and Sweden.

    Youths more certain ofthemselves than of theirhomelands

    The second set encompasses youths who arejust as convinced that their uture looks brightas they are that they will have a good job in theuture; however, they do not believe that theircountrys uture looks bright. This categoryo youths are rom the United States, Mexico,the European Union (excluding the Greeks, theFinns and the Swedes), South Arica and Turkey.

    Worried youths

    Lastly, two countries (Japan and Greece) aredealing with a serious youth-related issue.neither Greek nor Japanese young people areoptimistic about their proessional uture, theirpersonal uture, or the uture o their country.

    Everywhere, self-confidenceis greater than trust in

    government

    It is striking to observe that everywhere in eacho the 25 countries surveyed the trust whichthese youths express in their own uture andin their own proessional uture is greater thantheir trust in the uture o their own country.

    >>>

    No other young group reached the extent

    o discouragement expressed by the Japanese

    youths. Although Greek, Hungarian and Mexican

    young people are equally pessimistic about theircountrys uture, they indicate at least some de-

    nite satisaction with their personal lives. In every

    point, Japanese respondents were more discontent

    than others. Nowhere else in the survey was there

    such a large combination o negative opinions.

    Japanese youths are overwhelmingly dissatised

    with the general situation in their country (75%),

    and while three-quarters o the worlds youths

    claim to be at least satised with their personal

    lives, it is still dissatisaction which prevails (51%)

    among the Japanese. Nothing seems to mitigate

    this pessimism: young Japanese are just as dis-content with their nances (74%) as they are with

    their work (60%). Only 32% o them believe they

    will have a good job in the uture, as compared to

    an overall mean o 70%.

    The way they rank their amily and riends is even

    more troubling. Although the worlds youths are

    satised with their amily circle (85%), only 69%

    o the Japanese share their opinion. Similarly,

    although 78% are satised with their circle o

    riends, only 62% o the Japanese agree.

    They reject their era: a clear majority (61%) o the

    Japanese indicate that they are not satised with

    the age in which they live, even though 59% o the

    worlds youths are satised with it. This reputedly

    Japan: The GreatDepression?

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    Japan

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    80 %

    40%

    0 %

    Japan United States European mean

    Satisaction with the age inwhich they live

    Confdence that they will havea good job in the uture

    Prepared to pay or thepensions o older generations

    68%

    76%

    41%

    55%

    65%

    52%

    33% 32%

    35%

    Japanese youths malaise

    37Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    nationalistic population has one o the youth cate-

    gories who consider nationality one o the least

    important actors in constituting their identity (54%

    deem it important, as compared to an overall meano 70%).

    All o the questions aimed at assessing satisac-

    tion, optimism, or trust invariably highlight the

    much higher levels o dissatisaction, pessimism

    and distrust among Japanese youths: even though

    70% o young people surveyed worldwide believe

    that their uture looks bright, only 43% think so

    in Japan. Similarly, while the Chinese (82%) and

    Indians (83%) think that their countrys uture looks

    bright, only 24% o the Japanese eel that way.

    The Japanese youths situation is certainly theone which, o all the countries surveyed, raises

    the greatest concern. One particularly signicant

    nding is that only 35% o the young Japanese say

    that they are prepared to pay or the pensions o

    older generations, as opposed to 50% who respond

    that they are not. Only the Greeks are as reluctant

    to und their elders retirement (52%).

    Mindsets and Liestyles

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    The Optimism Index is a mean ofpositive responses to the followingquestions: Does your future lookbright? Does your countrys future lookbright ? and How certain are you thatyou will have a good job in the future?The Satisfaction Index is a meanof positive responses to questionsconcerning satisfaction (live as awhole, finances, health, work, leisuretime, friends, family, general situationof the country, the age in which therespondent lives).The Trust Index is a mean of positiveresponses to questions concerningtrust in institutions (nationalgovernment, parliament, media, justicesystem, army, and police force).

    Extremely happy youths

    80 %

    40%

    0 %

    Israel United States European mean

    Satisaction Optimism

    65%

    37%

    43%

    Trust

    66%

    62%

    51%

    69% 69%

    65%

    38 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    Eighty-three percent o young Israelis say

    that they are satised with their lie as a whole,

    which is the second highest percentage among the

    youth groups surveyed, ater the Poles (85%). This

    countrys young people also express the highest

    level o satisaction with their nances (61%).In general, they give highly positive responses

    to all satisaction-related questions. However,

    when invited to rate the general situation in your

    country, they express more dissatisaction (49%)

    than satisaction (46%). It should be noted that the

    level o discontentment concerning the general

    situation in their own country is much higher

    among Western youths, since it reaches 69%

    among Europeans and 62% among Americans.

    Scandinavians, Canadians and Australians,

    however, are more condent about the uture o

    their country than the Israelis.Similarly, 81% o the Israelis eel that their uture

    looks bright and are convinced that they will have

    a good job in the uture (76%). This optimism is

    surpassed only by that o the Brazilian (87%) and

    Indian (90%) youths. This mindset may be attri-

    buted to the act that nearly all o them (85%) eel

    that their nationality is an important actor in sha-

    ping their identity, which results in their ranking

    nationality ahead o religion (63%).Lastly, Israeli young people stand out because o

    the trust they have in their countrys government,

    parliament, army, police orce, justice system,

    religious institutions, and media. This is a unique

    case among Western youths and, worldwide, only

    the Chinese, Indian and Moroccan youths express

    equal trust in their national institutions. Whether it

    is the cause or consequence o this nearly gene-

    ralised trust, young Israelis like the era and the

    world in which they live. A clear majority o them

    consider globalisation more as an opportunity

    (66%) than a threat (31%), making them one o theyouth categories most comortable with the new

    world and happiest to be a part o it.

    Israels optimisticand confident young people

    Israel

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    I want to start a family and have children

    60 %

    50 %

    40 %

    30 %

    20 %

    10 % 60 %

    Text highlight: 42% of the Chinese believe that starting a family is one of the three main componentsof a satisfying life and 33% say that having children is one of the three top priority goals they want toachieve in the next fifteen years.

    Starting a amily

    United Kingdom 30%, 49%

    South Africa 30%, 41%India 13%, 24%

    Italy 36%, 56% Russia 47%, 60%

    Greece 32%, 44%

    Canada 29%, 45%

    Romania 45%, 45%Japan 26%, 37%

    Sweden 30%, 50%

    Morocco46%, 44%

    Poland 48%, 49%

    Turkey 31%, 41%

    Spain 32%, 51%

    Australia 26%, 45%

    United States 27%, 41%

    Finland

    32%,

    46%

    Hungary

    40%,

    46%

    Estonia

    47%,

    52%

    Brazil40%,

    39%

    China

    42%,

    33%

    France

    47%,

    58%

    Mexico 37%, 32%

    Germany 41%, 52%

    Israel 31%, 42%

    Having children

    39Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    My family, my identity

    In every country surveyed, amily relationsare considered invaluable. Rating it highest, at98%, are the Indians, who eel that spending

    time with their amily is important, as opposedto 79% o the Japanese, who rate this lowest.The importance o amily ties can be seenin the extent to which young people rankedtheir amily among the actors contributing totheir personal identity: 95% o the Indians, asopposed to 73% o the Japanese, acknowledgeit as playing an important role.Not only do young people assign considerableimportance to amily in general, but they arealso satised with their own amilies: 85% oEuropeans, 87% o Americans and 90% oIndians surveyed say so. Once again, Japanese

    youths stand out by their lower satisactionlevel (69%). All the youths say that the amily isthe oundation o society: 94% o the Chinese,89% o the Estonians, 70% o the French and65% o the Swedes. These variations obviously

    do not challenge the core role o the amily orthe worlds youths.

    Starting a family

    Among the various aspects o lie, that o star-ting a amily is the one which most closelycorresponds to young peoples idea o a goodlie, which came in second place ater beinghealthy. Starting a amily is a plan particularlyadhered to by the Polish (48%), French andRussian (47%) youths, but not by Indian youths

    Triumph of

    thefamily

    >>>

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    40 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Moroccan youths

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    For 75% o young Moroccans, their ethnic

    group plays an important role in their identity, as

    compared to 45% or European, and 61% or Turks.

    Similarly, 87% o them say that nationality is an

    important actor in their identity, as opposed to66% or Europeans and 80% or Turks. The same

    holds true or religion (92%, as opposed to 35% or

    Europeans and 74% or Turks) and or language

    (84%, as opposed to 75% or Europeans, and 84%

    or Turks). This devotion to membership in a group

    is also conrmed by the act that Moroccan young

    people are among those who assign the greatest

    importance, in terms o their identity, to humanity

    (88%), rating it considerably higher than European

    young people do (79%).

    One ourth o young Moroccansplan to move abroad

    In the Fondations survey, two questions are

    aimed at assessing young peoples intention to

    leave their country to live or move abroad. Young

    Romanians and Moroccans are those who most

    strongly assert having a plan to emigrate. When

    asked to say whether they would like to live

    where they currently live, somewhere else in their

    country, or abroad, 29% o the young Moroccans

    choose abroad. To that same question put to the

    youths o the 25 countries surveyed, only a greater

    number o Estonians (31%), Greeks (35%) and

    Romanians (41%) answer that they wish to live

    abroad. The Mexicans (27%), Russians (28%) and

    South Aricans (31%) rated this at a similar level.

    When asked to select, rom a list o ten goals,

    three which they would like to achieve within the

    next teen years, nearly one-quarter o the young

    Moroccans (23%) respond that they would like

    to move abroad. Young Romanians are the only

    ones whose response rate exceeded that o the

    Moroccans (26%), while the Indians (23%) only

    matched it.

    >>> (13%). Having children is also a priority orthe worlds youths. Those who value this idea

    the most are the French (58%) and Russians(60%); it appears less important to the Chinese(33%), Mexicans (32%) and Indians (24%)than to the Germans (52%), Spaniards (51%),Italians (56%), British (49%), Poles (48%) andRomanians (45%).

    Becoming a property owner

    Among the goals which youths hope to achievewithin the next teen years, owning a house or

    fat ranks highest. Young peoples hopes revolvearound having a home. This aspiration is thenumber one choice among the French, who aremost numerous to seek this goal (68%), slightlyahead o the Poles (65%) and the Chinese(63%).

    Cultivating friendships

    For most young people, spending time withtheir riends is important: it is rated the highestin China (96%), Russia (91%) and even Japan(81%). Nonetheless, time spent with riendsdoes not constitute a criterion or a good lie. Itis the Australians (29%) and British (26%) whomention it the most, without rating it very highly,and the Russians (8%) and Japanese (6%) whomention it the least. Furthermore, young peopleare less satised with their riends than they arewith their amily: 84% o the Russians are satis-ed with their amily and only 78% with theirriends, while 69% o the Japanese are satisedwith their amily and 62% with their riends.

    Being in love

    Being in love is one o the criteria most otenmentioned by youths in dening a good lie. Itis British youths who assign the greatest impor-tance to being in love (55%), ar ahead o theFrench (35%), Italians (32%) and Spaniards(29%). Among the worlds youths, the Russians(11%) and Mexicans (12%) consider it leastimportant, as opposed to the Americans (46%),South Aricans (38%), Australians (43%),

    Indians (36%) and Israelis (30%).

    Morocco

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    Text highlight: 92% of young Moroccans vs. only 21% of the French claim that religion is animportant factor for their personal identity.

    Morocco Spain Germany France Turkey

    What are the important factors contributing to Moroccan youths identity?

    Friends

    Family

    Religion

    Nationality

    73%

    85%

    88%

    89%

    85%

    88%

    85%

    86%

    88%

    93%

    92%

    24%24%

    21%

    74%

    87%

    59%

    56%

    63%

    80%

    41Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    Hal o the young Moroccansbelieve that society is intoleranttowards people like them

    Young Moroccans eel very strongly that they

    belong to the society in which they live (83%). Only

    the Indians (89%), Israelis (84%), Brazilians (80%),

    Chinese (79%) and Mexicans (78%) are equally

    convinced. By comparison, only 56% o the French

    and 65% o the Spaniards shared this eeling.

    Expressing a strong sense o belonging to a

    society does not imply that they are at ease with

    it. Nearly one out o two Moroccans (48%) indicate

    their impression that society is intolerant towards

    people like them, a level identical with that o

    Japanese youths (48%) but ar higher than that

    o American (34%) and European (29%) youths

    notably the French (28%) and Spanish (27%). Only

    Turkish youths express stronger eelings on this

    issue (53%).

    most closely associate identitywith belonging to a group

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    42 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Unemployment is still aconcern

    The young Westerners we surveyed have yetto experience ull employment: 45% o youngEuropeans rank unemployment as one o thegreatest threats to society, more so than terro-rism or climate change, and rank it a ar higherconcern than do their elders, with a 10-pointgap between their scores (in Sweden, the UnitedKingdom, Poland and Hungary).Only one out o two young people eel satisedwith his or her work (49%). The ratio is higheramong most o the emerging countries youths(64% in India, 58% in South Arica and 57%in Morocco), but slightly lower in China (45%).The French belie their reputation by obtainingthe Western countries top score, with 61% oits young people claiming to be satised withtheir work. The opposite is seen in the extre-mely low satisaction level o Japanese youths(30%).

    Trust in their professionalfuture

    Far rom being depressed by the threat ounemployment, the vast majority o youngpeople (70%) claim to be condent that theywill have a good job in the uture, more so thantheir elders (62%). With the notable exceptiono Japan (32%), non-European Western youthsprove to be nearly as optimistic as those o theleading emerging countries. Young Europeansare less condent, particularly the Greeks andthe French, o whom less than hal (43% and49%, respectively) think they will be able tond a good job.

    Above all, a good job must paywell

    Earning a good salary is the criterion mostoten chosen by the youths in nearly all o the

    countries. Moroccan, Scandinavian, Chinese andJapanese young people are exceptions becausethey do not rank the nancial consideration inrst position. However, salary level is crucial orthe Russians (71%) and Poles (69%). A goodworking atmosphere and riendly colleaguesappears to be the second most important actoror a successul career. Young Europeans (51%)and Chinese (55%) value this aspect more thanthe others, while the Moroccans (33%) andIsraelis (36%) seem less concerned about it.The interesting nature o ones proessional acti-

    vity comes in third, but this is not a question

    Young people in the workplace:

    dissatisfiedbutoptimistic

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    A goodjob =a goodsalary+a goodworkingatmosphere+

    an interestingjob

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    I am satisfied with my work

    70 %

    80 %

    70 %60 %

    50 %

    35%

    30 %

    20 %

    10 %

    0 %

    Italy 45%United States 50%

    Turkey 46%

    Germany 55%

    Mexico 43%

    China 45% United Kingdom 48%

    Canada 49%

    Japan 30%

    India 64%

    France 61%

    Morocco 57%

    South Africa 58%

    Poland 46%

    Finland 53%

    Romania 45% Russia 47% Australia 52%

    Sweden 53%

    Spain 42%

    Greece 42%

    Estonia 45%

    Hungary 47% Brazil 52%

    Israel 55%

    43Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    with signicantly dierent ratings among thecountries: although Russian and French youthsassign much importance to having an interestingjob, a good salary remains their primary concern unlike the Scandinavians, who place the grea-test emphasis on an interesting job. In contrast,having an exciting job is not essential to young

    Turks and Moroccans (13%), and also mat-ters little to young people rom such emergingcountries as China, India, Brazil and Mexico.

    In answer to the question Which o the ol-lowing actors best correspond to your idea oa good lie? having an exciting job seems to bea secondary lie goal. A good lie means, rstand oremost, being healthy, starting a amily,and being in love. But being excited about oneswork is oten deemed just as important as ear-ning a lot o money or even spending time withriends: 33% o young Mexicans rank havingan exciting job as one o the three prerequisitesor a satisying lie, as do 28% o young Indians,Poles and Italians.Interestingly, worldwide, youths eel that their

    education and proession are more importantactors in constituting their identity than theirreligion, ethnic group, or even nationality. Inact, 83% o them eel that education is animportant actor in their identity. This belieis asserted even more strongly among youthsin such emerging countries as China (89%),

    Brazil (90%), Mexico (95%) and India (97%).Similarly, in these nations, ones proession ispresented as an important actor in constitutingones identity: India (93%), Brazil (81%) andChina (78%). Conversely, proession plays aless critical role in constituting the identity orich countries youths (48% o Japanese, 66%o Americans and 70% o Europeans).

    Social usefulness matters,but it is not a priority

    Although young people are primarily interestedin a job that pays well, perorming a job thatcontributes positively to society matters morethan prestige or vacation time. There is a major >>>

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    A good salary A good working An interesting jobatmosphere andfriendly colleagues

    Russia 71% 52% 65%Poland 69% 50% 47%South Africa 67% 42% 39%Estonia 64% 52% 52%France 62% 55% 57%Canada 62% 45% 44%United States 62% 43% 42%Mexico 62% 40% 30%Brazil 62% 39% 28%United kingdom 61% 50% 54%Germany 58% 62% 42%Australia 58% 50% 44%Spain 57% 50% 40%Romania 57% 43% 25%Italy 56% 43% 40%India 56% 42% 30%Turey 54% 42% 13%Hungary 53% 49% 26%Greece 52% 47% 41%Sweden 49% 52% 56%China 48% 55% 29%Israel 46% 36% 38%

    Finland 42% 55% 62%Japan 41% 49% 37%Morocco 27% 33% 13%

    A successful career means above all *

    * The question was: Which of the following criteria are the most important for your futurecareer? with five possible answers among eighteen choices. Only the three most often-citedresponses are presented here.

    44 Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    distinction between European youths and thoseo other countries: 23% o young Europeansattach importance to the social useulness otheir proessional activity, as opposed to 49%o Mexicans, 38% o Moroccans, 33% o

    Brazilians, 31% o Indians and Turks and 29%o Chinese. Anglo-Saxons (29% o Americans,26% o Canadians and 25% o Australians)also value their jobs social impact more thanyoung Europeans.

    Fame? No thans!

    Among the suggested criteria o a good job, aprestigious status is particularly valued by theyoung Turks (24%), Indians (20%), Moroccans

    (19%) and Brazilians (17%), while it is virtually

    ignored by the French (4%), Australians andAmericans (5%). Having a job with a lot o res-ponsibility is somewhat important to the Indians(18%), as well as to the Finns and Israelis (16%).Good career opportunities produced substan-

    tial gaps between rankings: among Europeanyouths, the most attached to this criterion are theEstonians (36%), the British and the Poles (35%),ar ahead o the French (22%), Germans (21%)and Spaniards (17%). Outside o Europe, it is theIndians (44%), Russians (40%), Mexicans andBrazilians (39%) who place the most value oncareer opportunities, while the Japanese (10%)and Moroccans (16%) seem to overlook thisaspect.Although young people rmly believe that a suc-cessul proessional lie is important, they are vir-

    tually indierent to becoming amous, which has

    Mindsets and Liestyles

    >>>

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    45Fondation pour l'innovation politique | 2011 World Youths

    no part in their uture plans except or the youngIsraelis (14%) and Indians (27%), compared toa mean o 6% among young people worldwide.

    In which sector do youthswant to wor? Services leadthe way, with education

    raned highest

    Although the primary and secondary sectorsaccount or more than hal o all jobs worldwide,only 6% o the youths are interested in agricul-ture as a career, including in those countrieswhose growth heavily depends upon this sector(Mexico, Brazil and India). Similarly, the manu-acturing (9%), crat (9%) and construction(8%) industries aroused little interest.On the other hand, over 70% o the youngpeople want to pursue a job in the services

    sector. The response distribution among the

    sectors is somewhat homogeneous, with edu-cation being the top choice (22%), ollowedby research (20%). Despite the nancial crisisand the public questioning o this sectors prac-tices, banking and nance are more attractive toyouths than to their elders (19% o youths onaverage, which is 5 points higher than or the30 to 50 age group). Interestingly, it is mainly

    the Chinese (41%), Indians (32%) and Russians(25%) who would like to pursue a career in thissector. However, banking and nance are onlyavoured by 11% o the Japanese and 16% othe Europeans. A much more intense interest isshown by Eastern European youths in Estonia(29%), Poland (26%) and Romania (24%). Thecore component o globalisation retail onlyappeals to 10% o the young people as a careerchoice, and is scarcely any more popular inChina (9%) or in Germany (10%), the worldstwo leading export countries.

    Mindsets and Liestyles

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    Mindsets and Liestyles

    To the question What do you hope to achieve

    during the next 15 years? the answer earning

    a lot o money is chosen by 60% o the young

    Indians, as opposed to 47% o the Europeans.

    Financial success is thus a priority or Indians,

    while the plan o owning a house or fat comes

    rst or the quasi-totality o the rest o the youths

    worldwide. Conrming this rst result are the

    criteria chosen or the actors corresponding to

    ones idea o a good lie: 41% o the Indians again

    answered earning a lot o money, as comparedto 34% o the Chinese and 17% o Europeans. Most

    youths rank starting a amily higher than earning

    a lot o money, with the notable exception o the

    Indian youths.

    The Indians dream does not stop at wealth: 13% o

    them consider becoming amous one o the com-

    ponents o a good lie, while other youths aspire to

    that only marginally (3%). In the same way, 27% o

    Indians say that they hope to become amous in

    the next teen years, as compared to 6% among

    young people worldwide. In act, becoming amous

    is even more important to the Indians than obtai-

    ning a university degree (16%) or having children

    (24%). Yet this desire does not necessarily corres-

    pond to a Bollywood dream: being recognised as

    an artist (musician, lm-maker, actor, etc.) is one

    o the three top goals or only 9% o the Indians,

    which is in line with other youths rankings.

    Ambition is what characterises Indian youths:

    among the criteria or a satisying job, good career

    opportunities comes in second place (44%) ater

    a good s