Young people in Germany are mostly satisfied with their lives, but sceptical about the offers of political parties. This is the result of a study published on Thursday by the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). The 16 to 30-year-old respondents cite gender equality and climate protection as the most important topics and goals.
In the survey conducted by the Infratest dimap institute, 85 percent of young people commented on their own lifestyle. However, 74 percent also said that they were worried about the current situation in Germany. Reference was made to current crises and conflicts.
Taxing high incomes more heavily?
Only a narrow majority of 51 percent expressed satisfaction with the functioning of democracy. 77 percent said that politicians do not take the concerns of young people seriously. Only 45 percent expressed the impression of being able to influence political decisions. According to the survey, however, they are certainly interested in political issues.
Accordingly, the programmatic content of the parties played an important role in election decisions, but they were often not convincing. A majority positions itself to the left of the political center. Gender equality (88 percent), climate protection (78 percent) and higher taxation of high incomes (77 percent) are cited as important values and goals.
For the study, Infratest dimap surveyed a total of 2022 eligible voters between the ages of 4059 and 16 by telephone or online from mid-November to mid-December 30.