Insight

Future Leaders Network: 2021 UK Youth Perspectives

With the UK hosting the annual G7 Summit of world leaders next month, our new report reveals the majority of young people do not feel their views are listened to by the G7. The 2021 UK Youth Perspectives report, by the Future Leaders Network in partnership with Opinium, highlights the key concerns of young people in the UK and the actions they want world leaders to take to build a better and brighter future for upcoming generations.

Despite younger generations having to live through the decisions made by the G7, the report finds that 64% of those aged 14 to 30 do not feel properly listened to by the G7, with 44% feeling their views are only listened to ‘a little’ and 19% feeling they are not listened to at all. Only 14% think the G7 listens to their views ‘a lot.’

The younger a person is, the less likely they are to feel the G7 listens to their views. Less than half (48%) of people aged 14 to 17 feel the G7 listens to their views either a little, or a lot, compared to 60% of those aged 26 to 30.

Men are significantly more likely than women to feel their views are listened to a lot (18% vs. 8%), as are those in urban areas compared to those in coastal, suburban, and rural areas (18% vs. 10% vs. 10%). There are also differences by education level, with non-graduates, particularly those with no formal qualifications, being less likely than graduates to feel that their voices are heard (12% vs. 17%).

Read the full report here: