Generation Z:
Global Citizenship Survey
What do the world's young people think and feel?
​Generation Z: Global Citizenship Survey is the biggest, most comprehensive up-to-date global survey of the views of Generation Z - the teenagers and young adults who were born around the turn of the millennium.
We surveyed over 20,000 young people in 20 countries around the world. The same questions were asked of members of Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2001) in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. This is the first time that there has been an international comparative study of the attitudes of young people on this scale.
Many assumptions are made about this first generation of ‘digital natives’. The survey allows us to challenge our assumptions with hard evidence. It will help us to understand the lives of Generation Z – the first group born who may conceivably live to see the 22nd century. The Generation Z Global Citizenship Survey will be an invaluable insight into the worldview of the young people who will shape the world in the coming decades.
Key Findings
Click the flags below to view the key stats by country
At a time of nationalist and populist movements that focus on the differences between people, the evidence shows that young people – whatever their nationality or religion – share a strikingly similar view of the world. Teenagers in Nigeria, New Delhi and New York share many of same priorities, fears, ambitions and opinions. There is far more unity among young people than a glance at the headlines would suggest.
Large majorities of young people throughout the world support liberal values of tolerance, equality and progress – from legality of same-sex marriage (63%) to equal treatment for men and women (89%) and equal rights for transgender people (74%) – even in some cases where these values run contrary to the laws of their country.
These findings are based on in-depth opinion polling by the Varkey Foundation and Populus, on the wellbeing, priorities, ambitions and beliefs of over 20,000 15- to 21-year-olds in twenty countries. Generation Z: Global Citizenship Survey – What the world’s young people think and feel is the most comprehensive up-to-date global survey of the views of Generation Z – the teenagers and young adults who were born around the turn of the millennium.
The same questions were asked of members of Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2001) in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. This is the first time that there has been an international comparative study of the attitudes of young people on this scale.
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The survey also examined the trends in the world that make young people fearful of the future. It found more than eight in ten young people (83%) cited terrorism and extremism as one of the main factors that make them fearful for the future. A similar proportion (81%) were worried about the possibility of conflict and war – more than were concerned about other factors such as climate change (66%), the increased gap between rich and poor (69%), the risk of a global pandemic (62%) and the pace of technological change (30%). China was the only country in which climate change (82%) made more young people fearful than terrorism and extremism (79%).
The survey also found that young people overall are pessimistic about the future. 37% of young people think the world is becoming worse compared to just 20% who think it is becoming better. 39% think it is becoming neither better nor worse. The countries with the highest proportion of young people who think the world is becoming worse are France, Turkey and Italy (all 53%) while the highest proportions of young people who think that the world is becoming better are found in China (53%) and India (49%).
In addition, young people are divided on their support for the right to free speech. Only around half believe people should have the right to this even when it is offensive to a religion (56%) or minority groups (49%). Support for free speech even when offensive to a religion is highest in Turkey (78%) and Argentina (70%), and lowest in Nigeria (35%).
They were split, too, on religion – which plays little part in the lives of most young people in Europe, but remains a strong influence on young people in Africa and the Americas. Less than half (42%) of young people say religious faith is an important part of their lives, and two-fifths (39%) claim religion is of no significance to them at all. However, nearly eight in ten young people in Africa (77%) say religious faith is important in their life.
Most young people are tolerant and know people from other religions. Just under two-thirds (64%) have close friends who belong to religions different to their own and only around one in six (17%) say a person’s religion is an important factor when deciding whether or not to be friends with someone. However, in Nigeria, a much higher proportion -43%- think religion is important in deciding on friendships.
In 14 out of 20 countries, young people are overall in favour of making it easier for migrants to live and work legally in their country. Indians are the most likely to say that their government should make it easier for immigrants to live and work legally in their country; South Koreans are the least likely. However, young people across the survey overall think that their governments are doing too little to solve the global refugee crisis: 43% thought they are doing too little, compared to just 12% who thought they are doing too much.
Elsewhere in the survey, less than a fifth (17%) of young people feel that they get enough sleep, exercise, rest and time for reflection. The highest percentages that feel they do are in Nigeria (41%), India (24%), Indonesia (22%), Germany (21%) and Italy (21%). The lowest are in Israel (8%) and South Korea (11%).
Despite common perceptions, very few young people see the prospect of ‘celebrity status and fame’ (3% across all markets) to be the most important factor when thinking about their future career – apart from in Nigeria, where more than one in ten (11%) do.