The National Centre for Social Research’s Society Watch 2024: The State of Gen Z and Democracy

On Tuesday 21st May, myself (Ben, on work experience) and Lexi (an intern) from Unlock Democracy attended the National Centre for Social Research's 2024 Society Watch conference, this year focusing on Generation Z. In this blog we will summarise the key political findings of the conference and associated report, as well as give our own personal perspectives as members of Generation Z (or Gen Z) ourselves.

Generation Z is the youngest generation which contains a proportion of the electorate: in the recently announced 2024 General Election, they will make up 15% of voters. By 2034, that figure will be 25%. Born between 1997 and 2012, they are the first fully digital generation, the first to grow up in a world where climate change is an accepted and observable fact, and the first where the 2008 financial crisis and Brexit will affect almost their whole working lives.

Democracy Findings

One of the main observations at Society Watch was that Gen Z are much more likely to value individual freedom over social order. 43% of Gen Z support the right for civil disobedience to protest against laws they disagree with, compared to <33% overall.

Most importantly, there is a fast-growing disillusionment with democracy among Gen Z. 35% of 18-25 year olds would back a military dictatorship if it meant that the government got more things done. Gen Z are protesting because they do not perceive liberal, centrist democracy to be delivering on any issues whatsoever.

Whilst in the UK 80% of Gen Z would back Labour at the upcoming General Election, a trend towards radicalism is emerging globally. This trend already seen in Germany with the rise of the AfD, as well as the emergence of popular influencers like Andrew Tate. The only realistic way to reverse this trend is for democracy to be seen to deliver for young people, otherwise Gen Z may look to other less democratic ways of government for answers.

Wider Socio-Political Findings

Outside of the much publicised housing crisis, Generation Z has faced much hardship from outside influences like the media, particularly from the far-right. The media have often blamed Gen Z for their own difficulties, claiming they don’t save their money or practise fiscal responsibility enough. But these attacks are not limited to just one group - Boomers, Millennials, and Gen X alike have endured different stereotypes.

Despite facing the same challenges, we are currently living more separated by age than ever before. Cities and large towns are getting drastically younger, while villages and smaller towns are getting drastically older. This is creating a generational divide unseen before, which is very important to break down. It is important to note that whilst Gen Z are more socially radical than their parents and grandparents, they are no more economically left-wing than preceding generations were.

Ben’s Thoughts

As a member of Gen Z, though not yet able to vote, much of what was said above resonated with me. Most people my age are not interested in politics, other than to poke fun at whichever party (or politician) is in the news. To the majority of teenagers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are memes and few people know who Keir Starmer is or what the Liberal Democrats stand for. I wish this was an exaggeration, but it is not far off the truth at all. This presents a problem in itself, since such a large proportion of the electorate will not engage with the system and therefore the system will not reflect their views.

However, whilst the prevalence of extremist views amongst people I know is fairly limited, it definitely exists. Furthermore, it is worrying how easy it is to be exposed to those extremist ideologies. There are thousands of podcasters or influencers who promote extremist views to millions of young people, all too easily accessible via social media. For people with no other interest in politics and no knowledge of the subject, it is even easier to be led astray and fall down the extremist pipeline.

Many people my age are resigned to the fact that they will probably never own a house without significant good fortune under the current system. They see politicians overwhelmingly as corrupt, weak, and effectively useless. This may not be true: but reality doesn’t matter here, perception does. It is important for capable politicians to appeal to Gen Z voters in order to win back weakening trust. If they fail, chances are extremist views will continue to permeate society, posing an ever larger threat to our greatest political asset: liberal democracy.

Lexi’s Thoughts

Society Watch 2024 was an enlightening event to attend, especially as an American studying and interning abroad here in the U.K. this summer. Despite usually being an ocean apart from one another, I found myself largely agreeing with the sentiments U.K. citizens of my generation had in these polls. Findings relating to housing affordability, or lack thereof, the right to protest the government, and the media’s portrayal of our generation all resonated with me.

All the data was extremely interesting, but the points made about Gen Z’s confidence levels in police caught my interest the most. Gen Z has notably more confidence in police in the United States than they do here in the United Kingdom - 53% to 44%. I was shocked to see that confidence in the police is even lower here in the UK than it is in the US. Events in recent years back home, such as the Black Lives Matter protests, January 6 attack on the Capitol, and a general feeling of declining youth sentiments towards law enforcement have all caused me to believe the U.S. would have much lower confidence in law enforcement; definitely more than the U.K.

Conclusion

Society Watch 2024 was a great event to be a part of, especially since the subject was very pertinent to ourselves and it allowed us to reflect on Generation Z’s place in democracy. Whilst many of the things discussed merely confirmed our feelings about the opinions of Gen Z, the event also shone a light on issues hitherto unknown to us and as such was a very valuable talk to attend.

Ultimately, in twenty years time, it is Generation Z who will be in power and making the important decisions, and if faith in democracy is in decline amongst us then this needs to be addressed.

Sources

  • World Values Survey Wave 7: United Kingdom 2022.  Question 69. Haerpfer, C., Inglehart, R., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano J., M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen (eds.). 2022. World Values Survey: Round Seven - Country-Pooled Datafile Version 5.0. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. doi:10.14281/18241.20

Shaun RobertsComment