Tuesday, October 19, 2021
High interest, hardly any motivation
Election campaigns hardly appeal to young people
Young people hardly feel addressed by the federal election campaign – topics that are important to them hardly take place. Some of them have a political interest, but do not believe that the upcoming government will take care of their concerns. But there is a glimmer of hope.
According to a study, politicians and parties largely bypassed teenagers and young adults in the federal election campaign. 72 percent of 14- to 24-year-olds felt that their communication during the election campaign was “not at all” or “rather not at all”, according to a representative survey by Infratest dimap on behalf of the Vodafone Foundation.
Only one in five agreed with the statement that the concerns and interests of young people were sufficiently taken into account in the election campaign, the majority (75 percent) did not see it that way. 92 percent of those surveyed who were eligible to vote expressed their intention to vote, but only 42 percent felt motivated by the communication during the election campaign. More than 2000 14- to 24-year-olds were interviewed in the three weeks before the election.
In principle, the age group showed a great deal of interest in the federal election. 85 percent said they care how the vote goes. More than one in two (53 percent) stated that they regularly obtained information about the parties and politicians in the election campaign. However, the majority (58 percent) did not believe that most politicians and parties are trying to win over young people. 38 percent were of the opinion.
There is a gap between issues that are important to young people and those that they believe played a major role in the election campaign. The respondents were able to choose a maximum of three from twelve topics that are particularly important to them and three that they believe will be the focus of the election campaign. Except for the issue of environmental and climate protection, which is most important to young people and which, in their opinion, was also of great importance in the election campaign, there are major differences.
Little interest in taxes and finance
43 percent named education as a particularly important topic, but only 11 percent believed that education was the focus of the election campaign. For 30 percent, health and digitization are important topics, significantly fewer (14 and 19 percent) had the impression that these topics played an important role in the election campaign. Tax, finance (22 percent) and economics (17) are not that important to young people. However, one in three was of the opinion that these issues were in the foreground in the election campaign.
With a view to the election campaign, the majority (60 percent) did not have high hopes that the next government would take more care of the needs of young people. Above all, teenagers and young adults want more young politicians so that their interests are better taken into account. 54 percent of those questioned were in favor. Every third person would be in favor of lowering the voting age to 16 years.
After all, the new Bundestag has become younger: The average age is now 47.3 years. After the 2017 federal election, it was 49.4 years. One in four MPs is now under 40 years old (26.2 percent). After the 2017 election, it was not even one in five (17.9 percent).