Has a generation ever been so minutely poured over as today’s young people? From Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, his bestselling social science book detailing the impact of social media on children, to Netflix’s Adolescence, the terrifying drama depicting the impact of the manosphere on teenage boys, youngsters are under the microscope. A Channel 4 poll earlier this year declared that young people backed the idea of a dictatorship to bring order to the universe. We are assailed by constant noise about the apparently doomed state of today’s teenagers and twenty-somethings. But is it all merited?
Adding to the analysis, we have just finished a major new study of the 16-29 year old age group and it offers a more nuanced picture. It’s true to say that financial insecurity is a cause of daily anxiety for today’s twenty-somethings. It’s also true they’re worried about the future of democracy and have little love for our established political parties.
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