Youngsters oblivious to Westminster politics
More and more youngsters are disillusioned with politics, according to a new study.
Over the past 25 years, Britain’s disenfranchised youth have switched off from debating politics, finding other avenues to express teenage angst, according to the Economic and Social Research Council.
A total of 40 per cent of respondents said they “never” discussed politics with friends, compared to 30 per cent in 1976.
The survey found nearly half believed there were “about 100” MPs at Westminster and nearly a quarter said they were unaware the UK was a member of the EU.
Nearly two thirds of the 1249 teenagers surveyed said the government was “too complicated for them to understand.”
The report co-author, Dr David Halpern, said: “We set out to discover how much tomorrow’s citizens know about the workings of our democracy, and we compared the results with similar surveys undertaken in 1976.
“We found a worrying lack of knowledge of the basic facts and a large scale of apathy that should concern politicians of all parties.
“But we also found the majority of young people were keen to play their part in their local communities.”
