Polling Results

Tue 27 Oct 2026

My Life My Say & Opinium – Youth Index Poll: Five Years On

New research from Opinium in partnership with My Life My Say explores how young people’s attitudes towards politics, democracy and the issues affecting their lives have changed over the past five years.

The Youth Index Poll: Five Years On draws on six waves of polling among UK adults aged 18–24 between 2022 and 2026. The research finds that politicians and the government have consistently been among the least trusted institutions, with net trust in politicians remaining between -32 and -35 points across the tracker. Meanwhile, the cost of living has remained young people’s most commonly identified concern, selected by around three in five respondents.

Despite declining trust in political institutions, support for democracy has strengthened. In the latest wave, 57% of young adults agree that their vote matters, while net support for democracy has reached a record high of +53 points. The findings highlight the distinction young people make between their confidence in political leaders and their support for the democratic system.

The full report is available on the My Life My Say website.

Research methodology

Opinium conducted six waves of online polling in partnership with My Life My Say between 24th March 2022 and 7th July 2026, with approximately 1,000 UK adults aged 18–24 surveyed in each wave. Quotas and weighting were applied to ensure samples were nationally representative by age, gender, region and employment status.

The full data tables for each wave of the Youth Index Poll are available below:

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