Young people and political engagement
Brexit and Young People: Are we really listening to the next generation?
The decision to remain or leave in the European Union was probably the most significant and important political decision the people of Britain have had to make. The European Union referendum took place in 2016 and the UK decided to leave. Four years on, the UK officially left the EU on January 31st 2020.
The votes of the referendum showed a clear difference in the wants of society based on age. For example, the YouGov referendum poll which was undertaken on referendum day indicated out of the 5,455 UK adults, 71% of 18 – 24year olds voted to remain and 64% of 65 plus had voted to leave (Kingman,2017). Adding to this, the Lord Ashcroft poll which included 12,369 adults that was also undertaken on the referendum day showed that 73% of 18-24 year olds voted to remain compared to 60% of over 65s voted to leave (Kingman,2017).These statistics are a perfect example in highlighting the idea that different age generations within society have contrasting views regarding how they want society to run in the long term.
How different age gaps voted: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36619342 (Appendix A)
Appendix A is a visual representation of the distinct gap between age gaps in relation to leaving or remaining in the EU. But why is this the case?
Sociologists conducted a regression analysis to dig deeper in to these statistics. Whilst analysing the data set, they took a variety of demographics in consideration such as education, age, household income and ethnicity. The final analysis concluded that levels of education or how ‘ British’ or ‘ European ‘ one felt effected the choice to leave or remain (Kingman,2017). For example, those who felt more ‘ British’ were more likely to vote leave as they felt threatened by the thought of immigrants coming in, whilst they fall behind. This can be referred to as the ‘ left behind thesis’. At this present time, this is the most diverse generation of Britain ethnically and more and more young people are involved in higher education which portrayed in the results, are reasons why 18-24 year olds were more likely voted to remain (Kingman,2017). This is worrying due to the fact that the older generation who voted to leave wont be around for as long as the younger generation, so why are they deciding our future for us?
‘ Loosing free movement will be so damaging to my life chances’
It is predominantly clear that young people are much more politically engaged and more vocalised on issues that affect them and society (Melo, Daniela F. and Stockemer, Daniel, 2014).Young people are politically demonstrating their feelings beyond voting which is due to the rise in the usage of social media platforms. Social media is a great way to start a campaign or raise awareness for a specific issue as there really isn’t a limit on the amount of people that can get involved and engage with the campaign. The more recognition, the more awareness.
Many young people have expressed their views on how they felt about the the fact that the UK decided to leave the EU via social media platforms such as Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. They have emphasised the fact that the older generation have voted for something that isn’t really going to effect them. Young people all around the UK and Europe will be living with the outcome off Brexit for the longest with changes to education and jobs(Ellison, Marion 2017).
Does it seem fair that we have to face the consequences?
Young people are often portrayed as individuals who are non political. However, this generation does want to engage and do care about community matters but often politics as it comes, isn’t perceived as as the way to make change happen. Therefore leading to young people participating in different forms e.g protests. We need to talk about issues that are actually important to young people and actually ask them what they want. Young people would be more likely to engage via social media as this is something familiar to them and isn’t out of their comfort zone(Keating & Melis, 2017: 877). This can improve confidence within younger society in the government also, which would be hugely beneficial during an election.
(Appendix B)
The amount of young people who voted in the 2017 uk election was the highest recorded numbers since 25 years ago. This can bring to light that young people are in fact more engaged in voting if politicians prioritise their needs. In 2017, the Labour party insisted on scrapping student fees, for that reason more young people engaged. There is a strong correlation in youth focus and the amount of political engagement (Burn-Murdoch 2017).
In 2020 alone, there were a lot of campaigns and protests going on. An example of this is Black Lives Matter. This protest represents and emphasises the idea that young people do vocalises their political views but in different forms. This also focuses the attention on the power of social media and how young people use this to raise awareness for a particular issue.
Time to reflect…
As spoken about throughout this blog, Brexit was a significant decision made by the people of UK that will change and affect the younger generation. Should the government consider allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote in future elections? The video above talks about how teens feel about the changes ahead. Feel free to comment and share your own political views on the outcome of Brexit.
Bibliography:
Ellison,Marion (2017), “Through the Looking Glass: Young People, Work and the Transition between Education and Employment in a post-Brexit UK,” Journal of Social Policy. Cambridge University Press, (Online) Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/through-the-looking-glass-young-people-work-and-the-transition-between-education-and-employment-in-a-postbrexit-uk/E7245191E7379F2970E02B909CA2F776 Date accessed: 22/02/2021
John Burn-Murdoch (2017), Financial Times, (online) Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/6734cdde-550b-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f Date accessed: 22/02/2021
Jon Kelly (2016) BBC, (Online) Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36619342 Date accessed: 21/02/2021
Keating, A. and Melis, G. (2017). Social Media and Youth Political Engagement: Preaching to the converted or providing a new voice for youth. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, [online] 19(4), pp.877-894. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1369148117718461 Date accessed: 20/02/2021
Kingman, D. (2017). Generation Remain: Understanding the Millennial Vote. [online] http://www.if.org.uk/. Available at: http://www.if.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Generation-Remain_final_October_2017.compressed.pdf Date accessed: 23/02/2021
Liberal Democrats, YouTube, (Online) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL-3Hl1mzZY Date accessed:19/02/2021
Melo, Daniela F. and Stockemer, Daniel (2014) Evidence from Britain, France and Germany shows young people are engaged in more direct forms of political participation, beyond voting. (Online) Available at: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2014/02/27/evidence-from-britain-france-and-germany-shows-young-people-are-engaged-in-more-direct-forms-of-political-participation-beyond-voting/ Date accessed: 22/02/2021
The Guardian(2019), YouTube,(online) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imBwvBCadBs&t=178s Date accessed, (18/02/2021)
2 Comments
Hey!
what an interesting blog! Brexit, Brexit, Brexit. One of the biggest embarrassments that our country has faced. I remember not being old enough to not vote during that time and it was one if the most irritating times to not be able to vote. I agree that during and after the referendum young people were more politically aware. I definitely think that lowering the voting age should be considered because if the voting age can be as high as it is now (65+) why can’t it be lowered. Especially since at the time I was studying Government and Politics so I was more aware of what was going on and probably so many more young people did too.
It is also annoying that judgements have been made on our generation to not want to get involved but the actions show that there has been changes. It is quite interesting to see that the 2017 election was the highest recorded numbers in the last 25 years. I believe that it just depends on the issue that needs to be addressed and who these issues effect. For example, will it effect more students or individuals of the BAME community. I feel like the thing that pushed young people to vote to remain in this case was just how narrowminded, racist and judgemental individuals within society are about the idea of immigration. Rather than what it could do for our economy. Like look at this article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/20/racism-on-the-rise-since-brexit-vote-nationwide-study-reveals which It pretty much shows the spike in racial discrimination during the time of the referendum.
If there wasn’t such a panic of immigration, do you think the votes to leave the EU would be as high as it was ?
It’s frustrating ! The older generation that were voting to leave didn’t think about how it would effect the younger generation. They do realise how our economy may be effected by this. David Cameron wasn’t the best Prime minister and didn’t exactly care about ethnic minorities or the younger generation but he definitely realised what it could do to our economy (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/22/david-cameron-makes-final-plea-for-britain-to-vote-to-remain-in-the-eu). But also do you also think that if the referendum didn’t effect us young people would we have gotten as involved? because I think it could be a whole different situation.
Hey!
Loved this! I remember not being old enough to not vote during that time and it was one of the most irritating times to not be able to vote. I agree that during and after the referendum young people were more politically aware. Lowering the voting age should be considered because if the voting age can be as high as it is now (65+) why can’t it be lowered. Especially studying Government and Politics so I was aware of it and probably so many others
It’s interesting to see that the 2017 election was the highest recorded numbers in the last 25 years. It just depends on who the issues effect eg. students or individuals of the BAME community. I feel like the thing that pushed young people to vote to remain in this case was just how narrowminded/racist individuals within society are about immigration. Rather than what it could do to our economy. Look at this article:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/20/racism-on-the-rise-since-brexit-vote-nationwide-study-reveals Pretty much shows the spike in racial discrimination during the referendum. If there wasn’t such a panic in immigration, do you think the votes to leave the EU would be as high as it was? The older generation that was voting to leave and didn’t think about how it would affect us. But also do you also think that if the referendum didn’t affect us, would we have gotten as involved? because I think it could be a whole different situation.