Opening image: DPA Picture-Alliance via AFP
The 2024 edition of one of Germany’s most prestigious youth surveys, Jugend in Deutschland (Jugend in Deutschland), debuted with a series of surprises: young people in the country are more dissatisfied than ever before – and they have never been so right-wing. The research was reported by Die Welt.
The survey of 2,042 young people between the ages of 14 and 29 has been conducted in the country since 2020, so there is already quite a few years of context available to interpret this year’s data. Based on this, it can be stated that young people are increasingly worried about wars, economic problems, and migration.
They are frustrated by the many unsolved social problems, and they are plagued by more and more doubts about the chances of preserving prosperity.
The authors of the survey report that although they still assess their own financial, health, psychological and professional situation positively, it is still far worse than in the surveys last year and the year before. On the other hand, they evaluate the country’s economic development and social cohesion negatively, and they expect deterioration in both areas in the coming years. “The prospect of a good life is disappearing” – sums up one of the authors of the research, Simon Schnetzer.
According to the survey, the biggest worries of young people are inflation, which worries 65 percent of them, the war in Ukraine and Israel, which 60 percent of them fear, and the expensive and scarce supply of housing, which worries 54 percent.
Climate change and the division of society (49-49 percent), as well as the economic crisis (48 percent), are still significantly frustrating for young people, below 50 percent. By the way, the same number are also afraid of poverty in old age. In addition, the proportion of those who are afraid of migrants has risen sharply – 22 percent last year and 41 percent this year. “There seems to be a growing concern that too many refugees are coming into the country and that this poses risks due to housing shortages, social divisions and financially strained welfare systems.”
Young people were also asked about their party preferences, and this also had surprising results.
Alternative Germany (AfD) became the most popular party among German youth: their support of 22 percent is almost double last year’s 12 percent.
and in 2022 they were only at 9 percent. The Christian Democratic CDU also increased (from 16 to 20 percent), so the right wing is supported by 42 percent of young Germans. The Greens have worked their way down from 27 percent in 2022 to 18 percent this year among their core voters, among young people, the social democratic SPD fell from 16 percent to 12 percent, and the liberal FDP from 14 to 8 percent. In addition to the Left Party, which dropped from 10 percent to 7 percent, the new party of Sahra Wagenknecht, who broke away from them, is also registering with 5 percent.
In addition, the proportion of those who agreed with the politically conservative and migration-critical statements probed in the research also increased.
We can talk about a significant shift to the right in the society of young people”
– claims another co-author, Klaus Hurrelmann, who justifies this with AfD’s strong presence on TikTok and Instagram.
It is particularly interesting that young people are also critical of Israel: only 26 percent of them see that Germany bears a historical responsibility for Israel and the Jews in Germany, 36 percent of them strongly disagree with this statement – and a quarter of them do not know where to stand on this matter.
