Young Spaniards are much more concerned than those in other countries about the economy, both global and personal, and the uncertainty with which they view this area is reflected in their aspirations for the future: their second greatest desire, after personal happiness, is stability.
They are more concerned about having peace of mind, economic stability and being able to have their own home than about personal success, careers and professional development, which are the most common desires among their European contemporaries and those from other parts of the world.
And when they look beyond their personal circumstances and think about society or the planet as a whole, economic issues such as poverty, inequality and recession appear again as their second greatest concern, after environmental problems, which They are much less worried than young people in other countries.
These are some of the conclusions of the analysis on youth concerns that can be extracted from the Youth Talks report, a global consultation carried out with more than 45,000 young people between 15 and 29 years old from 212 countries, which Eada Business School presented today (one of the founding partners of the initiative) in Barcelona.
The report is the result of systematizing by themes, using artificial intelligence, the open and spontaneous responses of young people (1,125 in Spain) to eleven questions related to what they want for their future, for the future of the world, what worries them on a personal level and social, what future they would like to build and what they would be willing to give up to do so, what they think they need to learn or study for it...
The data shows that the priorities and concerns of young people raised in Spain are somewhat different. "The comparison tells us that Spanish youth would be more concerned about more immediate issues, about their immediate future, such as the country's economic situation and the impact on their professional prospects than about more global concerns such as climate change or geopolitics. global," says Ramon Noguera, academic director of Eada Business School.
Considers that, in the case of Spain, the concern of young people about issues such as climate change, values or professional ambition is displaced by short-term anxiety and uncertainty about whether the economic situation and the labor market will allow them develop your projects.
Julia Wolny, who coordinated the Youth Talks report in Spain, pointed out that young Spaniards aspire to personal happiness somewhat less than the rest of Europeans (29% compared to 33) and their second aspiration is stability in life (22% ), something that only 6% of young people in Western Europe and the rest of the world raise. "The Spaniards are concerned about having peace of mind, economic stability and a home of their own," Wolny remarked.
While what worries Europeans the most is career and professional development (20%), this concern occupies second place among Spaniards (also with 20%) and they express it as "the difficulty in getting a job or the job they want", very much in line with their first reason for concern, which is the economic situation (23%).
On the other hand, the fear of loneliness and never finding love is twice as high among young Spaniards (10% mention it) than among their European peers (5%), who instead fear failure more than Spaniards ( 17% versus 14%).
Regarding the main concerns for society and the planet as a whole, there is a desire shared by the world's youth, without distinction of origin, which is peace, understood as less violence, less conflicts, less pressure and the end of wars. However, for young people in Western Europe, the desire for greater protection of the environment comes first (expressed by 44% of respondents), an aspiration that weighs less in the scale of priorities of Spanish youth (19%).
And while climate change worries 63% of young people in other European countries, it only does so for 35% of Spaniards surveyed in the framework of this report, who are more aware of economic and social sustainability and making progress in equality and justice.
The results of the report also confirm differences regarding the contribution that young people are willing to make to build the future they dream of depending on the country where they live.
Young Spaniards are willing to sacrifice leisure activities (22%) and give up the mass consumption of some goods (20%) but to a lesser extent than their Western European counterparts (44% and 61%). On the other hand, in Spain there are more young people willing to renounce personal ambitions such as a job or a specific place of residence, and privileges and beliefs.
Spaniards are also the least willing to give up the rights of the welfare state and to family and loved ones, and they also do not want to sacrifice personal ambitions such as freedom, love and education.
In this sense, when asked what they should learn in school to achieve a better future, what Spaniards highlight most are personal values and virtues such as respect, solidarity and empathy.
"Young Spaniards seem to prioritize the most basic aspects, such as values, family or stability; they put them ahead of success and money, and social aspects come before environmental aspects among their concerns," noted Jordi Díaz. , dean of Eada Business School, after emphasizing that, as it is an open survey, the Youth Talks survey has allowed the analysis of more than one million ideas and non-induced contributions from young people around the world, which offers a broad vision of what what they want and care about.
