The voice of Spanish youth: building together Europe 2038
Dra. Carmen Viejo ([email protected])
Mercedes Gómez‐López
Dra. Rosario Ortega‐Ruiz
University of Cordoba (Spain)
General background
The Europe 2038 Project: What will Europe look like in 2038?
• What visions do young people of today have for a future Europe? What
are their answers for today’s major societal challenges like ageing,
financial crisis, clean energy, mobility/migration, freedom and security?
• Which measures do young people suggest to overcome terrorism and
violence, inequalities and social exclusion, prejudice and discrimination?
• What are their main worries and expectations about the present and the
future?
15.03.2017
Spain in the European Union
Becoming a member of the EU is a complex procedure which
does not happen overnight. Once an applicant country meets
the conditions for membership, it must implement EU rules
and regulations in all areas.
Spain joined the European Union in 1986; along those years
Spain has changed economically, politically and socially. Due
to the Spanish situation on that date, Europe represented a
way to reach freedom, better democracy, economic
advantages and increased wellbeing.
15.03.2017
Youth opinions
Which are the main world problems?
During the last decades, Spanish youngsters had changed their opinion about the world main problems. Comparing the periods between 1995‐2001 and 2002‐2008, the top 3 worries which increased the most are:
18
•War
16
14
•Poverty
12
10
8
•Terrorism
6
4
2
0
Adap. from GETS, Encuestas sobre tendencias sociales.
1995‐2001
2002‐2008
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Youth opinions
Which are the main Spanish problems?
But these previous results change when they reported their perception about Spain. Traditionally, the main worries that they reported were (GETS, Encuestas sobre tendencias sociales):
•Basic needs
•Violence and security
•Environmental problems
From 2007/2008, a change was noted: environmental problems scores decrease and the economic worries vertiginously rise up. For that period, unemployment appears as the top of their worries.
CRISIS EFFECT
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Spanish youth and Europe
Contrary to what is happening in other European countries such as
Greece, Holland or UK, Spanish youth has not developed an anti‐
European feeling to face this crisis. Spanish people and political
parties are pro‐Europe; the Spanish youth response to the crisis is
encouraging to build an European identity. In this line, the
identification with the European referent has increased in the last four
years (Spanish Youth Report; INJUVE, 2012).
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Spanish youth voice
(SPANISH YOUTH REPORT (INJUVE, 2012)
Main values and priorities
• Spaniards are quite close to loyalty, equality and solidarity values, always from the recognition of freedom,
creativity and experience possibilities. They especially take into account the maintenance of guarantees
and security.
Citizenship visions
• The citizenship idea is established from actions related to empathy, interpersonal solidarity and complance
with civic duties. Interest in politics
• The tracking of political information has increased in the last years, especially through internet, press or radio. In comparison with other European youngsters, Spaniards seem to be more active regarding participation in demonstrations, signing of petitions and collaboration in non‐governmental associations and organizations.
Deep political and social changes
• They think that the management of social problems is not effective and reliable, hence a deep transformation is necessary in order to achieve a better system.
Low institutional trust
• A decrease of confidence in institutions is a constant in current political studies, especially related to 15.03.2017
political institutions or political representatives.
The study
1.
2.
What visions do young people of today have for a future Europe?
What are their main worries and expectations about the present and
the future?
Qualitative Study
• Focus group
discussion
Quantitative Study
• Pan‐European
Survey
15.03.2017
Qualitative study
25 youngers (5 boys; 20 girls)
Mean age: 23 years old
2 Tasks:
• Qualitative questions‐ focus group discussion
• Questionnaire design: which questions/topics do you think are important to consider? 15.03.2017
Focus‐group results:
What will Europe look like in 2038?
• GLOBAL TERRITORY: “In the future, the borders between the European countries will be lighter,
increasing the union between them and promoting a common territory”
• EQUALITY vs INEQUALITY: “A common territory would imply an unification of laws and rules
regarding healthcare, education or work opportunities”; “Europe as a country will reproduce the
same inequalities than the countries have in their inner regions right now, meaning the richer
countries vs the poorer countries; thus the inequality in several areas will increase, alongside the
political and financial conflicts”
What visions do young citizens of today have for a future Europe?
• The main worries: FINANCIAL CRISIS & ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES, OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND A
JOB, EDUCATIONAL POLICIES.
• POSITIVE vs NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE: “It’s a positive point of view defined by the hope for
improvement and overcoming of the financial crisis, and the understanding of Europe as an
opportunity for working abroad and finding economic prosperity”; “It is not optimistic because of
the fear for the duration of the financial crisis and its consequences, such as the instability and
shortage of work opportunities, lack of educational and economical opportunities, etc.”
15.03.2017
Focus‐group results:
What are their answers for today’s major societal challenges like ageing, financial crisis, clean energy, mobility/migration, freedom and security? • WORRIES OF NOT FINDING A JOB: “ The worst consequence of the financial crisis has been the youth’s unemployment situation and the shortage of opportunities in many countries; educated young people is leaving for the richer countries, which benefits their economy but decreases the possibilities of poorer countries”; “This situation is not fair: you do not have a choice, you have to move somewhere else to find a job if you want to become independent.”
• WORRIES FOR SECURITY AND EQUALITY: “The political conflicts regarding the financial situation and social problems such as migrations cause insecurity amongst citizens”; “Migrations have underlined the need of equality policies in many different areas: gender, race, religion, etc.”; “ Gender differences should be regarded as a main issue; it makes no sense to have this kind of problems in a modern society, in the 21st century”.
• MOBILITY AND MIGRATION AS AN OPPORTUNITY: “The increasing mobility has promoted positive attitudes amongst the youngsters, who are more likely to defend their rights, are more open‐minded, more social‐aware, have improved their critical thinking on social challenges, etc.”
Which measures do young citizens suggest to overcome terrorism and violence, inequalities and social exclusion, prejudice and discrimination? • EDUCATIONAL POLICIES: “ It’s necessary to have an educational system based on values such as respect and equality, no‐discrimination and eradication of prejudices and stereotypes, encouraging a peaceful culture.”
• EUROPEAN MEASURES: “ To be effective, a global union is needed; that is to say, to promote effective European policies against violence, inequalities,… and to have respectable and honest politicians who really think in their citizens, taking actions to help the most disadvantaged people.”
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Quantitative study
Quantitative data is being collected since June 2016
246 youngers have already answered the on‐line survey, how are them?
• 37% girls, 62.6% boys; 0.4% transgender
• Mean age is 20.46 years old (range from 16‐25 years old)
• 99.2% have Spanish citizenship; 97.1% were born in Spain, 2.9% in other country.
• 57.6% were singles, 42.4% had a sentimental relationship (not married).
• Studies level:
o No academic degree: 0.4%
o Compulsory Education: 26.7%
o Secondary School: 43.2%
o Professional degree: 10.6%
oUniversity degree: 18.6%
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Quantitative study
Instruments:
Different questionnaires are being used. They report information about:
‐ Future visions (own & Europe) ‐ Global and European Citizenship Competences
‐ Moral Development & Human rights
‐ Discrimination, social exclusion, violence experiences
Preliminary results: These preliminary results report information about two main areas:
• Spanish young people priorities and worries.
• Spanish confidence and involvement in policies statements, and their requirements to the European Union.
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Imagine yourself in 2038…
which of the following things are most important to you?
70
62
60
60,7
60,3
50
40
30
20
10
29,7
27,1
24,9
19,7
18,3
17,9
16,6
14,8
14,4
11,8
9,2
9,2
5,7
5,7
1,7
0
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0
Imagine yourself in 2038…
which of the following things are you worried about?
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
36,4
33,6
26,2
22,4
20,1
18,7 18,2
17,3 17,3 16,8 16,4
13,1 13,1 12,6
10,7 10,3 9,8
9,3 8,4
7,9
6,5 6,5 5,6 5,6
4,7 4,2 4,2 3,7
3,3
1,9 0,9
0
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How much do you trust each of the following institutions to overcome actual crisis and challenges?
66,7
70
60
45
50
35,4
27,5
40
30
27,1
31,2
14,3
18,5
19,1
20
Very little or not at all
10
Somewhat
0
A lot or quite a lot
European Union
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National Goverment
Local Goverment
Imagine that you are the head of the European Union and you could set priorities for Europe 2038. Which topics are the most important? 70
62,8
60
50
40
30
20
10
37,8 37,2
29,1
27,6
23 23
17,316,3
15,3
13,312,2
10,7
9,2 9,2 8,7 8,2
6,1 6,1 5,1 5,1 4,6 4,6 4,6
4,1 3,6 3,1 2,6 2,6 2,6 2,6 2,6
2
2 1,5 1,5 1
0
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1
0
Behaviours related policies and European Union…
Will vote in the European Union elections in 2019
92,8
Think the UK should remain in the EU
84,5
Follow news about the EU on TV, the radio, or in newspapers
78,5
Discuss issues regarding the EU with friends and acquaintances
78,5
Visit a website that is about the EU
58,6
Share content to your friends/contacts on Facebook (or a similar online…
54,7
Vote In the last EU elections in 2014
47,5
Sign a (online) petition about an issue regarding the EU
40,9
Like a group on Facebook (or a similar online social network) dealing with…
38,1
Join a particular political party so that you can campaign or canvass on their…
27,1
Attend a public meeting or demonstration dealing with EU issues
23,8
Writte an email or a letter to a newspaper or magazine about an issue…
Writte an email or a letter to a Member of the European Parliament or to an…
0
7,7
5,5
20
40
60
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80
100
Conclusions
Spanish young people priorities and worries
The most important things
• To be happy
• To be employed
• To be healthy
Main worries
• Terrorism
• Unemployment
Spanish young people focused on employment as one of the most important things
and its lack thereof as one of the main worries.
Previous studies showed similar trends:
• GETS (2009) showed and increase on economic topics and unemployment as one of
the biggest concerns amongst young people.
• INJUVE (2012) showed that 73,1% of young people selected unemployment as the
main problem that they have, followed by economic problems and economical crisis
with 16,6% of score.
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Conclusions
Confidence in institutions and requirements to the EU.
Spanish young people showed a very low level of trust on the national government to
overcome the actual crisis. They find the European Union the most reliable one.
• INJUVE (2012) showed that young people scored 3,14 over 10 when they were asked
about their confidence on the national political parties. The higher scores were to
non governmental organizations (6,09/10).
Regarding to voting behaviours, young people reported that they are actively involved
in the European Union. 78,5% of them follow the news about the EU on TV,
newspapers, radio, etc.
• INJUVE (2012) showed that 39,3% of young people watch TV news about politic
topics everyday, and 21% do it at least 3‐4 times per week.
Young people would prioritize developing European policies and improving the
educational system as the most important measures to overcome these problems.
15.03.2017
Dra. Carmen Viejo ([email protected])
Mercedes Gómez‐López
Dra. Rosario Ortega‐Ruiz
University of Cordoba (Spain)
The project has received funding from the Europe for Citizens programme 2014‐2020; Strand2: Democratic engagement and civic participation; Action 2.3: Civil society projects; call 2015; project ID 564710.
© 2016 Europe2038